Student Spotlight: Sheizan Bawa
March 16, 2016
Every big name in the music industry had to start their climb to fame from the bottom. For Diamond Bar High School senior Sheizan Bawa, his path started at Hollywood and Highland, where he performs for tourists on the street.
Singing became a serious hobby for Bawa in sixth grade when he auditioned for the role of Lumiere in his middle school’s production of “Beauty and the Beast.” While he was given the understudy role, this opened the door to music as a prominent interest in his life.
Bawa was first introduced to street performing by his father, who encouraged him to show his talent publicly. However, he didn’t act on the idea until the summer before his junior year, when he made a spur of the moment decision to go to Hollywood with his family to perform. By the end of his first performance on the street, Bawa made enough money to purchase a guitar.
“Doing shows and street performing, when I see people give back to me when I give to them, it means a lot to me as a singer,” Bawa said.
Every two or three months, Bawa finds the time to go to popular locations in Los Angeles or Glendale to entertain on the streets.
Though not in the DBHS choir, Bawa has chosen to connect with music through playing double bass in the school orchestra for five years. He also works with the Wind Ensemble, and is one of three orchestra members accompanying them on their upcoming trip to New York.
Bawa takes opportunities to perform at school every chance he gets. Last month, he performed at Apollo Night, and he is also set to sing the National Anthem at Awards Night at the end of the school year. Bawa’s primary outlets for singing are posting occasional YouTube videos and street performing.
As yet another spontaneous decision, Bawa auditioned for NBC’s “The Voice” last January, singing “Tomorrow” by Chris Young. After preliminary auditions, Bawa was grouped with nine other singers, two of whom moved on to the next stage. Even though his time on “The Voice” was short, Bawa still enjoyed the experience and entertains the idea of returning in the future and hopefully getting further on the show.
“I just took my audition as motivation to work on my singing and immerse myself even more into my form of expression,” Bawa said.
Even with all his experience performing in front of audiences, Bawa still admits to getting stage fright prior to performance. His secret to overcoming any fear and giving his best performance each time is simple: focus on the moment.
“Just feel the thing you’re doing or performing. If you’re singing a really deep song, or are just really into the music, just be in it by yourself and not with the people watching,” Bawa said.
In the future, Bawa sees singing as a career as more of a fantasy than reality, acknowledging the difficulty to find a place in the music industry. However, while he hopes to practice law, music will always be hobby for him to enjoy and share with others.
