MARIA STEIN — Maria Stein resident Annette Huelskamp has been nominated for a Kilimandjaro Music Award in two categories; best female voice and best female artist. Huelskamp is originally from Haiti where her music is quite popular. She performs under the name Shega and she writes Haitian Creole, Afro and French music. Huelskamp has been writing and performing music professionally for about two years and also works as a nurse at Upper Valley Medical Center.
For her music career she works with producers in Florida, New York and Paris. In the local area Huelskamp sings for choirs and for fundraisers for children with birth defects. She also volunteers to sing in nursing homes for Christmas.
One of her most recent songs, “Thank You Nurses,” was written to show her appreciation for her career and the hard work of nurses like herself during the COVD-19 pandemic. Another song of Huelskamp’s is also meant to lift up others. Titled, “Keep Your Head Up,” this song is meant to remind anyone struggling in life to keep moving and keep pushing forward.
The Killimandjaro Music Awards is an Afro music awards ceremony that recognizes Afro musicians living in North America. The 2022 awards ceremony will be held in Toronto, Canada on Saturday, Nov. 19. The awards are given on a voting basis, individuals can visit www.kmawards.live to cast their votes. Voting for the awards is open until Nov. 17 and will count for 40% of judging. A special jury of TV/radio hosts, DJs and music programmers will make the final decisions.
Back home in Haiti, Huelskamp has had multiple TV appearances and has been recognized multiple times by fans wherever she goes, including in the U.S.
“I am not singing for myself, but for all of us,” said Huelskamp about her songs “Thank You Nurses” and “Keep Your Head Up.”
Huelskamp’s music can be found on YouTube, Amazon Music and Spotify. Her Instagram, @ShegaHaiti, also includes links to her music and to the awards voting page.
