THE LOCAL LIFE
Tshombe Selby Tenor
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Story by Amelia Boldaji Photo courtesy of Ted Alcorn
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– from near-countless hometown performances over the course of his life to his debut at Carnegie Hall in 2015 and his current position as an extra chorister at the Metropolitan Opera House. Though his professional career led him to New York City in 2013, Tshombe’s roots are firmly planted in Dare County, where his family and some of his staunchest supporters have been cheering him on from day one – making up a pivotal piece of a success story that he continues to be eternally grateful for.
MANTEO NATIVE TSHOMBE SELBY IS A RISING STAR IN THE WORLD OF CLASSICAL MUSIC
How were you introduced to the performance aspect of music? The first music I knew was church music. My family has been a part of the Haven Creek Missionary Baptist Church [in Manteo] since its creation in the 1800s, and when I was young it amazed me that three people in particular – Delton Simmons, Eugene Austin and Dora Saunders – were able to sit down at the piano and make such wonderful music. I thought it was the coolest thing ever, and I wanted to do what they did. [Early on] I held my own concerts on our screened-in front porch, until neighbors called to have me pipe down. But I just sang harder! 58 | W I N T ER 2021
How did you wind up studying music at East Carolina University (ECU), and is it true that you started to gravitate toward the classical genre while you were there? I was introduced to ECU because the university choir came to the Outer Banks as part of an annual program to celebrate Martin Luther King Jr. [The program] was started by Ruth Lewis [at Haven Creek], and the choir was under the direction of Billy Hines – who interviewed me while I was in high school. I sing really high, and took to musical concepts, so I was naturally drawn to classical music – and my undergraduate years at ECU in the choir with Hines was when I started to understand even more that I could be an opera singer.
After you graduated from ECU, you returned to the Outer Banks fulltime for a few years – what were some of your next steps from there? I had a lot of different jobs. [Laughs] I drove a school bus, worked at J. Crew, cooked in a Chinese restaurant, and was a bouncer and bartender at The Pit [in Kill Devil Hills]. I also sang in the choir for The Lost Colony roughly 75 times per season – and I never missed a show in three years. Lebame Houston and Barbara Hird of Elizabeth R & Company were the ones who told me I had better audition for The Lost Colony, and they put their entire backing behind me – they fundraised and started a scholarship in my name, and supported all of my voice lessons…without [them] things might not have worked out for me.
Manteo native Tshombe Selby at the Metropolitan Opera House, where he first landed a job as an usher and now performs as a chorister.
In addition to performing at the Metropolitan Opera House, what are your plans going forward? I’m also a fulltime student at Binghamton University in New York, and I’ll graduate with a master’s in opera this December – so I’m still working hard. It can be overwhelming sometimes, but my story is a timeline of blessings, and none of it would be possible without Dare County, Manteo. [People in the area] have done so much for me, and I think that when your community raises you, it’s important to give back – so I get home as much as I can and stay as long as I can. In our community, everybody helps each other…and even though my physical body may be in New York, my heart is always in Manteo.
