A striking young woman with a surprisingly mature voice and a strong vocal resemblance to Amy Winehouse, Ella Fitzgerald, Norah Jones, and Etta James.   Katelyn loved to sing as a child and it was obvious to her parents that singing brought her tremendous joy.  When she had just turned three years old she was at her aunt and uncle's house while their piano was being tuned.  As the man was tuning each key on the piano, Katelyn would copy each note in the background.  The man couldn't believe that such a young child could have such an incredible ear.  She could match the high notes as well as the low notes. 

Katelyn's sultry vocals along with her unique blend of Jazz and traditional vocal pop with a strong hint of blues due in large part to her love for all genres of music has allowed her to perform in a variety of venues including Oldsmobile Park home of the Lansing Lugnuts, local Lansing establishments such as The Exchange, churches, and schools.  She was also a six year choir member at Grand Ledge Public Schools which is known for its high standards in the arts. The highlight of her years at Grand Ledge schools was making the Grand Ledge Madrigals her senior year.  Another tremendous experience for Katelyn was the cutting of a Christmas CD with her Dad, Frank Cugini back in 2006. Katelyn has an incredible appreciation for her vocal coach Mr. Henson of Lansing for truly helping to inspire her confidence and big vocals.  In fact he discovered that Katelyn had a four octave range, allowing her to sing both first soprano and low alto.

While performing acappella at her first open mic, at Michigan Home Grown Music, she was grabbed by the beastly beat Peter Paul to become the dynamic duo Beauty and the Beat.  Peter Paul really helped to develop Katelyn's unique personality, style, and confidence while performing to a level she never thought possible. He helped her to feel incredibly at ease in front of an audience and their chemistry on stage radiated the first time they performed together and has continued to illuminate crowds ever since. They are incredibly excited about performing together at Lansing Jazz Festival and the unique and inspirational challenge this will be for both of them.

Katelyn comes from a very close knit family with one beautiful sister, two fun-loving brothers, and a mother and father that have been happily married for twenty years.  In addition to being well established in the Grand Ledge community, the Cugini family is also deeply religious, belonging to the Central Free Methodist Church in downtown Lansing.  Katelyn performed and assisted in the production of over 12 children's musicals at Central and this has also added to her love to perform and use her God given talent.

Katelyn will enter a new era in her life this coming August as she will leave Michigan and travel to exciting California to be a part of the prestigious group The Young Americans.  This group has been performing at Broadway level all over the world for over fifty years.  Auditioning for this group and being accepted was truly an honor for Katelyn.  The Young Americans is a non-profit organization and performing group based in Southern California. First founded in 1962 by Milton C. Anderson, the group is credited with being the first show choir in America, mixing choreography with choral singing. While experiencing national television exposure early on, The Young Americans now teach music to students in the United States and other parts of the world as advocates of music education in their International Music Outreach Tours. The group is currently comprised of approximately 200 young people between the ages of 16 and 25 from nearly every US state and several other countries.