A session vocalist, twenty-five years in.

Before becoming one of the most-called session vocalists and vocal contractors in Los Angeles, Charissa Nielsen worked as a personal assistant to Rick Rubin and Cecilia Noél. It was the kind of apprenticeship you can’t buy — a long window into how sessions actually run, who gets called and why, and the difference between a voice that sings and a voice that gets the room to the next take.

The session credits started arriving. Then the ensembles. Then the contracting calls. Twenty-five years on, the work spans feature scores with Michael Giacchino and Justin Hurwitz, children’s choirs on national live broadcasts, Super Bowl commercials, and album work for Michael Bublé, Post Malone, Neil Young, and the Smashing Pumpkins.

Along the way she co-founded two choirs that now work regularly in film and television — Elevate Gospel Choir and Captivate Kids Choir — and kept a fifteen-year performance seat with Cecilia Noél and the Wild Clams, the salsa and world-music ensemble where her cross-language ear got sharpened.

She also chairs the SAG-AFTRA Commercials Sub-Committee — an elected role, not an honorary one. If a spot is union, she’s often the one making sure the vocalists on camera and in the booth get the contract right.