Waltye Rasulala
Waltye is a lyric soprano who has entertained audiences in both concert halls and theaters. A graduate of Westminster Choir College of Rider University with a Bachelor of Music in Voice and Master of Music in Choral Conducting, Waltye was a member of the famed Westminster Touring Choir and Symphonic Choir. Performances with these choirs included the New York Philharmonic, Philadelphia, and Princeton Symphonies under the batons of conductors, Leonard Bernstein, Bruno Walter, Sir John Barbirolli, Herbert von Karajan, Warren Martin, and Elaine Brown. In New York, she studied with Carolina Segera Holden and in NC she studies with Lisbeth Carter.
Theater performances have included the New York City Broadway production of “Hello Dolly” as Mrs. Rose and as an understudy in the role of Irene Malloy, and in Los Angeles as Mrs. Murrant in the Inner City Theater production of Kurt Weil’s “Street Scenes.” Local audiences have enjoyed her as Sister Sara in the NCCU Theater’s production of “Guys and Dolls” as Heidi, in Theater in the Park’s production of Steven Sondheim’s “Follies,” in productions of “I Love a Piano” a tribute to Irving Berlin, and “Serenading the Moon: the songs of Johnny Mercer” at NCSU’s Thompson Theatre.
Waltye has served on numerous community boards including her role as President of NCCMI (North Carolina Chamber Music Institute) founded by Associate Cellist of the North Carolina Symphony, Elizabeth Beilman, and her husband, former principal clarinetist of the North Carolina Symphony, Jimmy Gilmore. In 1986, she was awarded the Raleigh Medal of Arts for her outstanding music contributions and support of the arts.