Update: At 10:10 a.m. changes were made to the story, regarding a misquote.

A young female vocalist found an interest in jazz after watching a music video of the famous jazz singer Ella Fitzgerald, She then realized that she had to do it and jazz fit her voice.

Analiz Castillo, 21, jazz voice major, has been an El Camino student since spring 2015 and has been singing for a year now.

“I felt that it was my spiritual awakening,” Castillo said. “Finding a piece of myself in someone else,”

Castillo took a trip to Washington D.C. on Feb. 28 to perform at a concert for women called ‘Washington Women in Jazz.’

Amy K. Bormet, a 31 year old jazz pianist combo player for EC’s applied jazz class invited Castillo to the event. She also organized the event in Washington.

Bormet chose Castillo to attend the performance due to her experience as a jazz singer.

The concert lasted two hours with her performance being only four-minutes. Castillo was able to sing one of her songs and said she felt accomplished with her performance.

“I was really happy because I saw people ‘vibing’ to my music, dancing, and I usually look at the floor when I sing but this time I was looking up to the crowd,” Castillo said.

Castillo said her greatest experience from the performance was seeing professional women do their job professionally on stage e as well as being able to interact with them.

“It made me feel empowered. Thinking about it makes me want to cry,” Castillo said.

The event was created in honor of women who sing jazz because women in the music industry are underrepresented.

“These women work just as hard and are just as talented,” she said.

“Castillo’s pianist, Srimal De Mel, 20, jazz piano major, was on stage with her, and enjoyed seeing other performances.

“I got to see a lot of great performances, and we got to sell t-shirts,” De Mel said. “I thought it was pretty cool to see professional women perform.”

De Mel said he views Castillo’s work as a jazz performer as something that is relatable and humane.

“Her lyrics are very transparent in her meanings, (and) her tone of voice is what I like the best,” he said.

Castillo’s private applied instructor on campus, Anne Farnsworth, said that Castillo’s work ethnic stands out and has a beautiful instrumental voice.

“She has a great attitude and she is like a sponge soaking in all of the information,” Farnsworth said. “She is a class leader,”

After EC, Castillo plans to transfer to a four-year university in order to pursue her passion as a songwriter. She hopes to turn it into a professional career one day.

“Music wakes me up in the morning. I want to be my own artist and make my own money on songwriting,” she said. “I am walking in that general perspective.”