Today we’d like to introduce you to Safia Valines.
Hi Safia, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstory.
I was born in Albany, Georgia to Teresa Aksouh and Rabah Aksouh. My mother is of celtic ancestry and my father immigrated from Algeria, which makes myself and my younger sister second generation Algerian American. My parents were both great music lovers. It was a great way we would all connect, so it’s probably why it’s always been my number one interest. I grew up in Pensacola, Florida and studied classical vocal music at the University of Central Florida graduating with a bachelor of arts degree in music. I started professionally performing during college as a classical singer at Bergamo’s fine dining Italian and at the Portofino Bay Hotel. Italian music became a big part of my performing career. It just seemed to gravitate towards me like it was always meant to be. In my last year of college, I was hired for a one year performing contract at Tokyo DisneySea performing renaissance style music. It was a life changing experience living in japan and singing. When I returned to Orlando, I jumped back into the performing scene. I spent many years as a theme park actress and singer. Around 2013, I started producing music promo videos to get more freelance work with agents in the corporate event industry. I have been successful with that ever since. I perform music events either as a soloist, or I consistently hire other working musicians to perform alongside me. My music business continues to grow, and in the past two years I have been performing as a guest music entertainer for Carnival Cruise Lines. My mom and step dad Pat come to as many performances as possible and continue to support me!
In 2019, my father passed away unexpectedly. It was devastating to my sister and I. It also slowly motivated me to become more connected and entrenched in my Algerian heritage and identity. When I turned 40 in 2023, I decided it was time for me to fly to Algeria and reconnect with my family there. It was a very emotional and life altering experience. My father had 7 other brothers and sisters, so I therefore have lots of cousins and family members. I also got to finally meet two half siblings that were concealed from me during my childhood. I don’t speak derija (Algerian Arabic), but I do speak broken french and it continues to grow every year. Algerians speak both arabic and french. I have surmised that my father didn’t teach the language to my sister and I so he could continue to conceal his past. He also didn’t take us there to visit throughout our childhood. I think I connected to music so much as a way to connect with such a closed off father. Today, I have since visited my family in Algeria four times and I focus a lot of my music career on singing music in different languages and cultures. My world music group, Canta Via, has made its debut and is hoping to take off and tour throughout the country. I feel very blessed and privileged to be able to do what I do!
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
I consider myself to be successful, but unconventionally so. I have spent many years trekking the audition scene of central florida, but I find that path has never been for me. I’ve realized that I’m not particularly well suited to the politics of the performing world. I’m not a natural networker, I don’t tend to cultivate relationships with people simply because they might be able to give me a job, and I’ve never been very good at sucking up to people in positions of power. That’s probably made my career harder in some ways, but it’s also meant that the work I’ve gotten has tended to come from people who genuinely like what I do. I’ve gotten quite a following from the retirement communities of Florida, and many of them keep me coming back for more. I find much better fulfillment in only sticking to performances for audiences who are generally there to see me.
As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
I’m a classically trained opera singer who also works in many other genres including jazz, pop, oldies, broadway, and world music. I easily can do a solo show and connect with an audience, but I love singing alongside my fellow musicians as part of a band. I also spent many years in the professional a capella world, singing christmas caroling, pop acapella at Universal studios, and as part of an Andrews Sisters tribute group. I’m probably best known for singing Italian or French hits. When the music community has an event with that theme, I’m usually one of the first people reach out to.
Can you tell us more about what you were like growing up?
I was definitely a goofy, hyper kid who loved to play games. I excelled in school and was obsessed with having better grades than everyone else. I’m always up for playing a game with someone, and that definitely hasn’t changed. The only difference now is I’m less hyper.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.safiavalines.com
- Instagram: singingsafia
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SafiaValinesVocalist/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@safiavalines4085
