The stage is a second home for Northside singer Aniyah Warren

Aniyah Warren, left, was Reno Sweeney in a production of “Anything Goes” at Lundstrum Performing Arts in 2023. Photo by David Pierini 

By Manal Bare, North News Intern 

Aniyah Warren started her singing career with the “ABCs” and “Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star.” 

Today, at 16, she sings Italian arias, jazz tunes, and Broadway standards. 

Aniyah recently placed 3rd at the National Association of Teachers of Singing (MN-NATS). 

The singer says she practically grew up at Lundstrum Performing Arts, a place she's made a home for her many talents—and, if you ask her, in a literal sense, too.

“Well, I feel like by this point, Lundstrum has slightly become a second home to me,” she said. “They probably have a couple of my clothes here. I'm not even gonna joke.” 

Aniyah said her mother, Pearll Warren, and her vocal coach, Susan Casserly-Kosel, made her the singer she is today. 

For years, her mom sat in the front row, iPad in hand, smiling from ear to ear, eager to see her daughter perform. She hasn’t missed one yet. 

Aniyah's mom, Pearll, is also a performer, a well-known spoken word artist who goes by the stage name "Da Black Pearll.” Part of her routine was to have her young daughter come up on stage to sing. 

“In Aniyah’s initial audition for Lundstrum, she sang, ‘Fly Me to the Moon’ by Frank Sinatra,” Pearll Warren said. “And I remember sitting there hearing this girl belt out, and tears just rolled down my face because I'm like, what am I witnessing right now?” 

Last year, she entered the MN-NATS but didn’t take it as seriously. This year, she competed with a renewed sense of confidence. 

“I wasn’t ready last time,” Aniyah said. “What pushed me the second time was that I could do it. I really wanted to try to get to finals.” 

Her vocal coach says she has a “voice from God.” Even so, maintaining a voice like Aniya’s is no cakewalk. Despite a commanding stage presence, Aniyah still works through stage fright. She also practices many hours and puts in a lot of technical training. 

“This is a young woman who is so authentic in the way that she brings herself into her work,” Casserly-Kosel said. “ She brings her real self into whatever I get her and goes at it like a madwoman. This is what's going to make Aniyah a great artist.” 

As she finishes her junior year at North High School, she is looking ahead to the future she hopes to create for herself: Attending college for music. 

"I really want to go to college for music,” she said. “ I feel like I couldn't part with it at this point."