CECE Sammy is a classically trained musician and one of the world’s leading vocal and performance coaches who has worked with artists and actors from the BBC, Paramount, Warner Bros and Universal.
Starting her career as a backing singer for Diana Ross, she is passionate about the power of creativity to change all of our lives for the better, a patron of The Arts and a champion of young people.
Most of all, CeCe wants every person to know that knowledge is power, no matter what age you are, what background you come from or what obstacles you face.
Born in Trinidad, home of the biggest carnival in the Caribbean, CeCe grew up obsessed with Soca music until, one day, she spotted flamboyant piano impresario Liberace on the TV.
“I saw him in these amazing outfits, wearing diamond rings and a huge smile as he played the most beautiful music and thought, that’s what I want to do!” she says, ” So I started listening to classical music and learning piano every day while all my friends were outside playing.”
CeCe proved a prodigious talent and, aged 14, moved to London with her mother and sister to pursue her passion at the London College of Music.
She still believes very much in her mother’s philosophy of doing things properly and with pride.
“My mother always said, ‘I don’t mind what you want to do in life. If you want to be a street sweeper, be a street sweeper… but be a brilliant street sweeper!’.”
Education was paramount in CeCe’s life and she is constantly aware of how lucky she was to have a parent who believed in her and who pushed her to excellence. But she also believes that everybody has creativity inside them, even if they believe do they do not.
“The creative world is something that you own,” she tells everyone who crosses her path. “I went to an incredible school and my kids now go to private school and we are very aware of that privilege.
“It’s heartbreaking that not everybody has the opportunity to flourish and explore what they are capable of.
“But even for those on low incomes, I want people to know that education and creativity will help them get to anywhere they want to go in life. If they explore and allow creativity to expand in their hearts and minds, they can achieve wonderful things for themselves and their families.”
“Education can happen via people around you or by travelling, by reading or simply by being curious enough to look something up on Google, “says Cece. “Learning doesn’t have to be boring or happen only in schools.”
CeCe believes that Creativity, as an umbrella term, can be misunderstood. It does not have to mean that somebody is artistic or naturally gifted in Arts subjects. It can also be about “a shift of energy.”
“Even someone working in finance, retail or manual labour has creativity inside them and, what’s more, I think creativity is essential and should never be ignored,” she explains.
The Coronavirus lockdowns were, she believes, the perfect example of how creativity naturally seeped out of all of us and was essential to our collective recovery.
“It doesn’t matter what kind of family you come from, we all need creativity,” she explains, “Look at what happened in lockdown. Whether you lived in a huge house or a tiny apartment, people were baking, they were dancing, they were gardening, making TikToks, sculpting their bodies at home gyms, drawing and rethinking their life choices. We were locked down and cooped up and it was creativity that saved us. And by that I mean a shift in the usual patterns, a changing around of energy and the ability to embrace that change.”