Nereyda Yedith Díaz Cortés started playing piano at 11 in Morelia, Michoacán — the same city where, years later, she'd land her first stage role. Today she performs on musical theater stages in New York City, having built her career from the ground up: a rock band keyboardist turned conservatory-trained performer.
Early Years: Melodies and Bands in Mexico
Nereyda's musical journey began at 11, when she first started playing piano. By 14, she had written her first song. At 15, while still in high school, she entered her first songwriters' festival — an experience that led her to join her university's representative music ensemble, where she performed in a band for the first time as both keyboardist and vocalist.
She went on to earn her degree in Marketing and Communications while continuing to perform. For seven years, she collaborated with friends and helped form two rock bands that carried her through her final years in Mexico. In Maj7, she served as keyboardist and co-lead singer, performing at several prominent venues across Morelia. In Inexorable, she was pianist and musical arranger, helping craft the band's sound for the Festival of Culture and Arts; the group advanced from local and regional rounds to the national competition in Querétaro's historic center, where they won the award for Second Best Song.
Discovering Musical Theater
After graduating from university, Nereyda began taking formal voice lessons. Her vocal coach encouraged her to audition for VAT Company, a Morelia-based musical theater company known for producing original musicals with meaningful messages. She landed her first role as Mary, a lawyer and the antagonist's best friend, in the musical Diego — her first time singing, acting, and dancing simultaneously.
More roles with the company followed: Ash in the stage adaptation of Sing 2, where she also performed as a solo guitarist on stage for the first time, and Emily, playing Walter's wife in the company's Spanish-language adaptation of Elf.
New York and AMDA
Inspired by her time with VAT Company, Nereyda set her sights on New York. She attended an intensive musical theater program with Xperience Makers, which led her to discover the American Musical and Dramatic Academy (AMDA). She auditioned successfully and earned a scholarship to AMDA's competitive four-semester Musical Theatre Conservatory Program.
Since graduating in June 2025, Nereyda has been working in New York during her Optional Practical Training (OPT) period. Her recent credits include performances in multiple cabarets across the city, singing one of her original songs in both English and Spanish on a New York stage for the first time, joining Nickelodeon as a dancer and performer, and representing R.Evolución Latina at the Broadway Green Alliance Earth Day event in Times Square. Performers navigating their own path from training to professional credits may find this guide to finding acting auditions and this roundup of strong audition monologues useful starting points.
Giving Back and Honoring Her Roots
Beyond commercial theater, Nereyda is a proud member of Vocal Ease, an organization that brings intimate concerts to senior living communities. She's currently preparing a special show of Mexican music to celebrate Mexico's Independence Day in September — a reminder that wherever her career takes her, Morelia isn't far behind.
