AJ Blakeney's Page

City

Capitol Heights

Headline

The Prince of Rock and R&B

About Me

Light-lyric tenor Alphonso “AJ” Blakeney, Jr. is a native of Capitol Heights, Maryland. Blakeney was born to Linda and Alphonso, Sr. Blakeney as the last of their six children and only son. He was raised in family that featured multiple talented fine and performing artists. His father and grandmother were singers and various uncles were visual artists. “I begin singing at the age of four to my parent’s Temptations albums and as I grew my love for music did also. It would eventually lead to me becoming diverse; listening to everything such as pop, R&B, rock, OPM, Latin and classical music,” says Blakeney on his memories of his early childhood.

His career started with him wanting to go into the pop music genre with him causing a buzz on small competitions. When remembering his grandmother singing Schubert’s Ave Maria in her sweet soprano voice as child would cause him to want to began to classically train his voice. In 2008, he was a late addition to the vocal music program as a minor alongside with his International Baccalaureate major at Suitland High School. During his time at Suitland High School, he worked with applied voice teacher Mr. Joseph Richter and choral director Mr. Kenneth Broucher. “Mr. Richter was very important to me. He took his time and efforts to make sure that I grew vocally and believed in me more than a lot of people,” states AJ. Alongside his peers, AJ was part of the special Washington Youth Choir for the taping of Christmas in Washington 2009 for President and First Lady Obama. On March 13, 2010, Blakeney sung H.T. Burleigh’s Deep River at the Prince George’s County District Solo & Ensemble Festival. After graduating in May 2010, Blakeney began his attending Bowie State University as vocal performance major in August 2010. He is currently studying under the renowned Dr. Marymal Holmes, soprano and Dr. Brian Semos, tenor.

My Favorite Artists

Mariah Carey, Tevin Campbell, Lea Salonga, Michael Jackson, Janet Jackson, Luciano Pavarotti, Lawrence Brownlee, Barbara Sreisand and Marian Anderson.

My Website

http://www.ajblakeney.webs.com