Killarney has a myriad of amazing people: entrepreneurs, professionals, film industry people, pilots, painters, writers, musicians and so much more. One of them lives half a block from our house. We came to know Shari Chaskin when we heard the most beautiful voice singing in the neighbourhood on a Sunday afternoon. She was singing on her front lawn and neighbours from all around brought their lawn chairs to enjoy the music. People were known to be dancing on the sidewalks. Who knew that such a talent lived nearby?
Shari Chaskin grew up in a loving and nurturing home in Montreal. She was surrounded from the start by her mother’s beautiful singing voice and her dad’s love of music. Shari’s older sister was her biggest groupie (and still is) and she knew that all Shari wanted to do was sing.
When she was five her kindergarten was launching a new music program, she was introduced to many instruments, and for her the guitar stood out. Her teacher and other students noticed her beautiful voice and started to ask her to sing and play guitar; without knowing it she had found ‘her voice’ and she was hooked on singing for the rest of her life.
When she was 16, her parents encouraged her to enter a Talent Show and she won. As a result, she was signed to the Quebec Record Label and Management Company. She was now singing with orchestras in many large venues like Montreal’s “Jardin Des Etoiles” with three shows a day, six days a week, singing and dancing!
In the early 90s she belonged to the cast of Les Misérables/Montreal and National tour for two years in the ‘swing role’, which meant she had to know eight roles and be prepared every day to play in any one of those roles on a moment’s notice, an incredible feat!
In 1992, while performing in Calgary she met the love of her life, Jeff Love (no kidding that’s his real name), who was the perfect fit for Shari. They married in 1994 and this year they celebrate their thirtieth anniversary!
In 1994 she began to sing with Calgary’s Big Band, Prime Time, and sang with them for eighteen years. And so, is well known to Calgary’s dance crowd.
In 2008, Farah Fawcett was starring in the movie Hollywood Wives, a movie adapted from Jackie Collins book and Fawcett lip synced the song “Beautiful for You” sung by Shari.
Shari’s stunning voice has led her to share the stage with Al Jarred, Chantel Kreviazuk, Colin James, Celine Dion, Tommy Banks, Sass Jordan, Oliver Jones, and many more.
Shari has always loved love songs and lives every word she sings. She captivates audiences with her contemporary and soulful songs that touch the heart. She commands attention whether in the grandest concert halls or in the most intimate of venues. She takes you on a powerful emotional ride from intimate moments to soaring heights.
In February as we celebrate the ones we love, Shari is working on a new album “How I Breathe” all songs are about every kind of love: finding romance, keeping love alive and so much more to be released in 2024/25.
How wonderful to find her in Killarney!
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