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From middle school musicals to performing in front of thousands in international venues to first round nominee of the 51st Grammy Awards, Heather Schmid has been around the world and back.
Heather is also very proud of her philanthropic endeavors -- her 2008 "Goddess Within Tour" across many countries in Asia donated money to a local charity wherever Schmid was performing.
Schmid got her start as the "third fair girl" in a Connecticut middle school production of a Dracula musical, a part that did not even have a name and one that Schmid said she was awful in.
“I was very shy, completely untrained, scared on the stage. I didn't know how to project," Schmid said. "That was a lesson for me. I always felt I could do anything. It just takes time. You have to work hard at it."
That hard work included training with an opera teacher, traveling through Europe as a soloist for the United States National Choir when she was 17, and getting a four-year scholarship to Boston University's opera school.
Her transition over to pop music began after graduating from college in 2002 when she and a friend entered the Miss Millennium International pageant. Her rendition of a song from La Boheme earned her the crown and a national tour in the United States.
“I got to see pretty much the whole country," Schmid said. "After that (my career) kind of blossomed."
What she called "mostly a mall tour" also led to red carpet events in New York, movie openings, and ultimately meeting five-time Grammy nominee Rich Balmer, who would write Schmid's first album, "The Goddess Within," with her.
In 2005, Schmid traveled to earthquake ravaged Pakistan, performing live shows in front of more than 100,000 people.
“President Musharraf called for a private show for all the VIPs of Pakistan," Schmid said.
Schmid and her corporate sponsors donated all proceeds to earthquake relief efforts in Pakistan where more than 85,000 people were killed in the October quake.
For Schmid's 2008 tour, she traveled extensively in Asia visiting Dubai, India, and China, and always donating money to a local charity where she was performing.
For example, in a small city at the base of a mountain in China, Schmid met children at a local orphanage and donated proceeds from that show to the Chi Heng Foundation, a charity that helps children affected by AIDS in China.
“They've never seen a live show before. The whole city comes out," Schmid said. "I'm absolutely thrilled and excited to be the only American or international artist performing in these smaller cities of China."
While in China, Schmid filmed a television series called "The Ambassador" that showed snippets of her live shows as well as her interactions with the local people and the local charity that benefited from her concerts.
Schmid is currently in Los Angeles finishing her presently untitled second album and awaiting word once the final voting is done at the end of this month about whether she has moved on to the final five round of Grammy nominees in two categories.
Her song "Touching Down" has been nominated for the best vocal performance by a female pop singer while "Close Your Eyes" has been nominated for best music video, short form.
“It's a huge honor to get into the first round," Schmid said. "As a recording artist, growing up you see the Grammy Awards as a pinnacle for your career."
While not all artists choose the international road to promote their music, Schmid is happy with her choice.
“I've always been an independent recording artist," Schmid said. "I never wanted to go down that standard route with a label telling you what to perform and a label telling you where to perform. It's just so thrilling for me to be out there doing my own music on my own terms."

Fun Times GRAMMY's 2009

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51st Annual Grammy Awards

Heather Schmid's Red Carpet arrival for the GRAMMY Awards. 

Last night, the Recording Academy Producers & Engineers Wing took its second annual Grammy week event, dubbed "Rock My Soul," far away from the bustle of downtown's L.A. Live area, where Grammy events have been going on since Monday—and where load in for Sunday's Grammy awards is already under way. The producers and engineers wing went instead to an unprepossessing West Los Angeles location: the storied Village Recording Studios, a full-service recording complex in a 1920's Masonic Temple, which has been home to the likes of Bob Dylan, the Rolling Stones, Barbra Streisand, Steely Dan, and Pink Floyd. Oversize Grammy statuettes flanked the entrance on the rainy night, and a searchlight streaked the air in a neighborhood perhaps not as accustomed to it as some others to the east and west.

Honorary event chairs Jimmy Douglass and Nile Rodgers, Grammy winner Keb' Mo', Recording Academy president and C.E.O. Neil Portnow, and chairman Jimmy Jam hosted about 450 guests to honor industry biggies Tom Dowd, Ahmet and Nesuhi Ertegun, Arif Mardin, and Jerry Wexler. The program supported the educational and advocacy initiatives of the Recording Academy Producers & Engineers Wing.