Ara

Ara Huyett recalls her first vocal performance at Gov. Mifflin High School as a nerve-wracking occasion, yet one that propelled her to a career in music. She'll celebrate the release of her latest electro-pop CD this evening at Viva.


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If you go: Ara CD release show
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Singer/songwriter Ara will celebrate the release of her new CD with a performance tonight at 7:30 at Viva Bistro and Tapas Lounge in Wyomissing.
The first time Ara Huyett stood solo in front of an audience to sing, her knees were shaking, but her future was galvanized.

"The first time I did solo I was in 11th grade," said the 1995 Gov. Mifflin graduate. "I'd never sung solo before, and I wasn't supposed to sing solo then, either."

However, the classmate who had asked her to join in a duet was unable to be in the show, and serendipity gave Huyett the chance to walk into her future profession on those shaky legs.

"I sang 'I Can't Live (If Living Is Without You),'" Huyett said. "And I had people coming up and saying, 'You touched me.' People were saying they got something out of what I did, and I knew then that this is what I was going to do."

So it's not surprising that Huyett, who now goes simply by Ara, has returned to Berks County to celebrate the release of her first CD, "Temple Beautiful."

She's hosting a CD release event tonight from 7:30 to 10:30 at Viva Bistro and Tapas Lounge in Wyomissing, where she will perform her hybrid cinematic electro pop.

It's really the music she's always wanted to make.

"It's electronic music," Huyett said. "There are influences of world music, and I like a lot of strings, so I guess it encompasses a lot of different things. But you can also sing along to it."

It's also the perfect vehicle for a voice that is at once sultry and playful; deep and broad; melodic and musically surprising.

Huyett left Berks County soon after graduating from Kutztown University with both a bachelor of science degree in electronic media and a bachelor of arts degree in music.

She travelled around with her music, performing on the college circuit and then in New York and Los Angeles, with side trips to perform in Istanbul in between.

"Now I wanted to come back here and perform for the people who supported me from the beginning," Huyett said. "I had a little following when I left here, and now I want to reconnect with everyone."

She's not entirely sure what the future holds for her musically, except that music will continue to be her life.

"Really, the plan is to get the songs out to as many people as possible," she said. "I want to stay independent or maybe sign with a small company that's really focused on the artists. I want to be able to continue to create something original and not have to fit into a mold."

She'll continue to write music, too.

"I'm open to anything that gets my music out there," Huyett said, "whatever path that takes. It could be publishing or having a hit on the radio. I want my music to be meaningful."

E-mail Tracy Rasmussen: weekend@readingeagle.com.
- Reading Eagle & Times