Zaria Ivory is a Vocal performance major at Dillard University originally from Oakland, California. Music has played a vital role in her life from the moment it started. Like her mother likes to tell it, she was singing before she could even talk. On February 4th 2019 her life was forever changed. On that day she found out she had vocal damage and in order for her vocal cords to heal she couldn’t talk or sing for months. That experience helped show her just how much she valued music. “In the beginning, I wasn’t able to fully express this emotion, but when I heard the lyrics to a song by one of my favorite artists it all became clear. The song says ‘music it’s all in my veins because my genetic makeup is music.’”(Zaria Ivory) After hearing those lyrics and feeling that way, she took action. With a new fire for music, she embarked on a new journey. She began to further develop her musical craft in other areas. She started writing songs and began to learn the technical aspect of music. This then drew her to want to take it a step further and study music in school. As a music student she has made it her goal to be a participant in every performance opportunity on campus in order to help perfect her craft. Her goal is to become a professional singer and build a musical and business empire that spreads throughout many fields. One of her other passions is helping build up the next generation. One of her goals is to combine her passion for youth with her love for the arts and create a nonprofit organization to help youth who are interested in the fine arts.

Zaria was a student artist participant in Inspiring Health Justice: A Collaborative Art-Science Scholar-in-Residence Program.