Going live: Sabrina Genesis is prepared for priceless moment at Morristown Onstage, Feb. 23

Sabrina Genesis. Photo courtesy of the artist.
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By Marion Filler

It’s her second appearance at Morristown Onstage, and this time, Sabrina Genesis will get her wish to sing before a live audience.

The amateur competition, a benefit for the Morris School District, returns to the Mayo Performing Arts Center on Feb. 23, 2022, after going virtual last year because of COVID-19.

Sabrina’s last name is Hernandez. But the Morristown resident uses her middle name when she performs.

“My grandmother loved the name because genesis means ‘the beginning of something new,'” said Sabrina, 28.

Sabrina Genesis Hernandez

“As an artist, you’re always in creation mode or in a realm of self-expression. When I sing, even if the song is not my own, I vocalize the song in my own way and take it from a place of my own experience, almost like breathing a new spirit into it.”

She will perform Paper Hearts by Tori Kelly, a huge influence for her.

“The song is almost like an ode to all of the loves that could’ve been but never happened in my life,” said Genesis.

Happily, love and marriage did happen, in October 2021. It was a Courthouse wedding because of the pandemic, and she looks forward to a bigger celebration with family and friends this October.

Music always has been present in her life, whether she was dancing, singing, or playing the violin and piano. Lessons were few; Genesis taught herself to listen and reproduce the notes on her piano.

She started singing in high school, using the same concept to hone her voice. “It’s been non-stop practice on my own,” she said.

Genesis believes most people can learn to sing if they are willing to put in the work.

“The vocal chords are like muscles that can be trained. The more you use them, the better you get at controlling them and understanding how to place your voice to achieve certain sounds.”

Although never formally coached, “I definitely trained every single day for over a decade.”

Rutgers grad Sabrina Genesis of Morristown sings at 2021 virtual edition of Morristown Onstage. Screenshot by Kevin Coughlin

A graduate of Rutgers University, Genesis is employed by DuraBrite Inc., an LED lighting company with offices in Morristown and New York. Her employer’s wife, also a Morristown resident, suggested she try out for Morristown Onstage the first time around.

For that show, she submitted a video rendition of If I Ain’t Got You by Alicia Keys.

Now, with recorded covers on her YouTube channel and a half-hour set at last summer’s Morris County Historical Society picnic under her belt, Sabrina Genesis is ready to go live on Wednesday.

“I learned how much I truly enjoy the performing arts, and the rush that I get from being able to perform in front of others is priceless.”

MORE COVERAGE OF MORRISTOWN ONSTAGE 2022

The Morris Educational Foundation presents the 15th anniversary edition of Morristown Onstage, a benefit for the Morris School District, at the Mayo Performing Arts Center on Feb. 23, 2022. Tickets are $35-$85. New this year: A raffle with $30,000 in cash prizes.

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