Mandy Harvey: An Inspirational Hearing Impaired Singer

Mandy Harvey: Hearing Impaired Award Winning Singer

Perfect & beautifully in tune, Mandy is an inspirational vocalist whose work stands as a testament to a remarkable lady with resilience, strength, courage & a plethora of talent.

May 30, 2016, 7:21 pm ISTMusicJhakaasMovies Staff

Mandy Harvey was born in Cincinnati, Ohio on January 2, 1988. She grew up in Florida and then moved to Colorado. Her dad was a minister and her mother was a teacher. Mandy started singing at the age 4 and joined several choirs. She wanted to be a choir teacher or a back-up vocalist for she was very shy and never wanted to be onstage being the center of attraction. She was so shy that there was a moment during her freshman year of high school when she had to sing with her back to the judge during a choir vocal competition because she was extremely nervous. Mandy was born with a connective tissue disorder that kept gradually destroying her hearing.

Tragedy Strikes:

Mandy Harvey was a freshman studying music at Colorado State University when her residual hearing declined to the point that she completely lost hearing. In her II semester (2006), she was attending a music class waiting for her professor's dictation to commence. She kept waiting thinking that he would start anytime only to realize later that the he had already finished. She immediately walked out of the classroom with tears in her eyes and never returned. Her world went silent as she had lost her hearing due to nerve damage. She went into depression and even dropped out of school feeling that music would no longer be a part of her life.

Defying all Odds:

Post leaving Colorado State University, Mandy took American Sign Language Classes and courses in Elementary Education at a local community college. When she was back home post her courses, she decided to be off singing for a year. One day in 2008, her father asked her to learn a song and sing it as he played guitar. Mandy would see a note and try to sing it and she did it perfectly. Mandy's dad made a recording, which Mandy took to her formal vocal coach who was floored when she began to sing. Her coach found Mandy’s pitch better than most of her hearing students.

Mandy later started performing Solo and signed up for an open-mic night at a Fort Collins club. She was then featured in Jazz Publications and got noticed thanks to the local news media. Her album 'Smile' was released in 2009 and it was self-produced album that and received wide acclaim from Jazz critics.

If you listen to her, you would find it difficult to believe that her world went silent in 2006. Even though she can't hear, she is blessed with a beautiful voice, has perfect pitch and timing and her passion for music is extraordinary.

According to Jan Waterman of the Healing Path Magazine, Mandy demonstrates the power available to us when we give up our attachment to outcome and focus only on what we do now. She reminds us that through doing what we love and giving what we have, we enter a realm of hope and possibility. We experience freedom to be all that we are.

Achievements:

In 2011 Mandy Harvey won VSA's International Young Soloist Award
In 2014 she performed a full concert at the Kennedy Center.
Mandy is a motivational speaker.
She is also an ambassador with a 'No Barriers', a Non Profit Organization that works with adults and children with disabilities.

Mandy Harvey's Discography

Smile - Released in the year 2009
After You're Gone - Released in the year 2010
All of Me - Released in the year 2014

Here are some of Mandy's popular songs:

Smile by Mandy Harvey. After losing her hearing 3 years ago Mandy set out to bring the world Hope by pressing forward with her dream to continue music. Smile is one of 16 tracks from her debut album that was made to prove that with enough passion and determination you truly can accomplish anything!