Meet Ysanne Marshall

We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Ysanne Marshall. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Ysanne below.

Hi Ysanne, really happy you were able to join us today and we’re looking forward to sharing your story and insights with our readers. Let’s start with the heart of it all – purpose. How did you find your purpose?

I discovered my purpose through the arts, learning from my experiences and trusting my faith.

When I sing there’s a freeing element of expression, and sometimes, it feels like I’m flying while not knowing the destination but knowing the journey will be worth it. After a show there have been fans, some with tears of joy in their eyes, who shared how they were moved by my singing or if the performance was outside how they turned back just because they heard me sing. My favorite moments are to see children dancing with me or their family while I’m performing. These moments keep me going and let me know that my voice has power to shift someone’s mood.

As a teaching artist, the engagement from participants in my creative workshops has as shown that these workshops are needed in our community. Offering the youth and adults artistic tools to express them has assisted in personal development, better communication skills and utilizing the SEL curriculum.

As a yoga teacher, providing a safe environment for people of color, of all ages, all body types and all levels, to participate in a movement and meditation practice that can alleviate tension in the body and mind. My immediate community know the ‘myths’ of yoga yet never tried it. I guess I never would have tried if I didn’t have a spinal fusion when I was 17. Although, I didn’t start yoga until about 3 or 4 years after that surgery when I was getting spasms and prescriptions weren’t cutting it, a nurse suggested yoga and it changed my life. I feel it’s my duty to be a testimony, so I got certified as a yoga teacher.

Appreciate the insights and wisdom. Before we dig deeper and ask you about the skills that matter and more, maybe you can tell our readers about yourself?

Before we get any further, my name is Ysanne Marshall, stage name just Ysanne. I am a jazz vocalist, and that path of passion has led me to create Ysanne Music. Ysanne Music’s mission is to provide underserved communities, specifically people of color, access to the arts and yoga practices. Our services include live performances, workshops, artist advocacy, grant writing, yoga classes, stage rentals and event coordinating.

I graduated Cum Laude with a BA in Art & Entertainment Management: Communications. As I went through my college years, I started to expand my thoughts of what it meant to be a successful artist and businesswoman. With the knowledge of grant funding I knew that I could find a way to work in the entertainment field. By 2011, my skillsets and passion for music & business led to paying artists and providing a space for live performances. With the left-over money from student loans and about a month before graduation I fully funded my first event called “We Can Do It”. Every artist got paid and I even got a coach bus to pick up college students from 3 states, Connecticut, Massachusetts and Rhode Island.

As a vocalist and performer, I’ve had a beautiful journey of discovery, but I’ll keep it short. I’ll start with my journey in college, although I naturally knew I could sing I never had a voice teacher. In college, ended up having two voice teachers, one that helped me with my repertoire and that classically trained me. In the last two years college I had an opportunity to open up for The Dream, Donnell Jones, Juelz Santana, sing at Gillette Stadium (where the NFL Patriots play) and I was cast as Motormouth Maybelle in Hairspray, my first big role as a late bloomer to the theater world. Playing Motormouth Maybelle gave me an opportunity to sing at the Kennedy Center American College, Theater Region I in 2013.

Jumping ahead after countless open mics, showcases, going to events, workshops, receiving grants to build up my financial stability and expanding my network, I land my biggest role as a performer. In the Fall of 2021, I was cast as Billie Holiday in the show Lady Day at Emerson’s Bar & Grille at Seacoast Repertory Theatre in Portsmouth, NH. This was a one-woman show, 27 pages of script and 17 songs to memorize in 59 days before curtain call. Talk about being your own cue for your next line. Playing this role influenced my career as I performer and gave me a deeper understanding of what my purpose is as an individual. After this role several clients wanted me to come to their establishment and give them a dose of Billie Holiday or a jazz influenced performance. I held 3 music residencies for 16 months.

In May 2023, I won 3rd place in the finale for the first season of Hartford’s Got Talent which was held at The Bushnell, Connecticut’s performing arts venue where Broadway productions, movie premieres, competitions and more happen. Before competing in the talent show, I submitted to a fellowship to give me more hands-on experience in the arts. As the stars continued to align, I received the Artist of Color Accelerator Fellowship January 2023, and The Bushnell was my host organization.

Okay now let’s backtrack a little on my grant journey and how they have shaped my business.
In 2018, I received my first grant funded job with CT Public Broadcasting, through the CT Office of the Arts, where I assisted connecting businesses and communities, providing resources and coordinating events.

In 2019, after receiving a Match Savings Grant from Assets for Artist, Ysanne Music became an official business. This funding allowed me to put in the groundwork like opening a DBA, going to workshops that focused on artist business, and provided financial knowledge to help better manage and track funding. During this time, after taking yoga for 7 years, I had saw the benefits of how yoga impacted my life and decided to get my yoga certification. Having the courage to get a yoga certification would help me keep my chronic back pain under control (post spinal fusion 2007), to offer this practice to the community, AND to gain some financial support. I started my certification Spring of 2020 and with the world adjusting I wrapped up my yoga certification in Panama Summer of 2022.

Spring of 2020, I received funding from CT Office of the Arts and Oddfellows Playhouse to provide a program with another artist that I would be mentoring in the process. We executed a version of a program I had written years priors, First Words, and never knew when or how it would be funded. My program partner and I agreed we wanted to service young ladies of color leading us to call the program Black Girl Magic Creative Workshop. This 2-day program was focused on providing young ladies (ages 8-17 years old) with two focused artistic disciplines: creative writing and dance.

Fast-forward past a couple of artistic recognition grant awards, January of 2021 I received a bigger opportunity to be an Art Community Impact Coordinator at the Northwest CT Arts Council. Through the Bridge Builder Program (grant funded work experience), for the CT Office of the Arts, allowed me to connect with businesses, artists, and communities in the northwest parts of Connecticut AND connect them with each other along with additional resources. As an Art Community Impact Coordinator, I was able to give music scholarships to a couple of emerging artists. This scholarship included a presentation by an entertainment lawyer, working with an engineer, recording their original music and purchasing their PRO Affiliates for them to upload their music, get music credit, and get paid when their song(s) are streamed or purchased.

Fall of 2021, I received a grant that helped me launch the full program of First Words. With the experience I had from Black Girl Magic Creative Workshops, I already had a blueprint of how the workshops would flow. This all-levels program is a group of creative workshops that explore the arts in different ways, allowing the participant to feel comfortable expressing themselves while creating art. Since this was granted funded, I was able to provide it to a Hartford school for free and taught 6th graders for about 6 weeks. Although this was a beta program it was important to make sure I provided service to a school that no later had arts or music in the school. I also had funding to provide 3 different creative workshops to adults as well, focused on 3 different art disciplines: writing, painting and dancing. After providing this program, I received an opportunity through a social worker from another school in Hartford to be contracted for a full year to provide the same workshops.

Pushing forward to 2024, I received two of my biggest grants yet, one was a Capacity Grant from The Prosperity Foundation (CT) and Independent Artist Fund from Free Center (CT). Capacity Grant has been assisting in marketing training and pays parts of my salary. The Independent Artist fund is assisting in a program called Jazz Movement, where I have my bandmates provide jazz music while I lead a yoga practice.

Looking back, what do you think were the three qualities, skills, or areas of knowledge that were most impactful in your journey? What advice do you have for folks who are early in their journey in terms of how they can best develop or improve on these?

3 Qualities: Consistency, Communication, and Positive Mindset.

Having faith in God has pushed me through rough times, which in turn strengthened and guided me. When I speak of faith, I’m talking about how I trust the light God has placed in me. The times that it seems I might not be progressing in a specific path in my life, I ask and reflect with God: What am I to learn from this situation or opportunity? How am I to move forward? Is this something that has happened before? What has helped me progress in the past? Can I use that same tactic now?

When we can find lessons in our journey, we have automatically reached an essence of success. There is no doubt that if you learn and put that lesson into practice success will be the only outcome.

How can folks who want to work with you connect?

As a multifaceted entertainer and businesswoman, I would love to connect with theater companies, live music venues, wellness centers/gyms, jazz musicians, recording studios, music conferences, and universities. The best way to reach out to me to collaborate would be via email [email protected] subject line: “Let’s Work – Bold Journey”.

Contact Info:

Image Credits

Jamie J Tilley
The Seacoast Repertory Theatre photography team
The Bushnell’s photography team
Robert Cooper
Amaro Arts Photography
Monique Pantel
Riverfront Captures

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