For Kira Fontana, music has always been a part of her life.
"I collected music boxes as a kid. I was obsessed with them, and I used to turn them all on every night and listen to them," said Fontana. "It was just like beautiful cacophony, and then one by one, they would die out. I was creating my own musical pieces back then."
One day her mother received a call from the school. It was Kira's music teacher.
"She said, all the other kids go out to play for recess and lunch, and your daughter stays in and plays the piano. Maybe you should get her lessons," said Kira. It got uncovered that way."
As Kira grew older, music became everything to her. It took over her life.
"I was like, I'm going to be a pop star because that's what you do. I never really second-guessed it."
After studying music composition at top conservatories on the East Coast, Kira moved to Los Angeles to begin her music career.
She released an album in 2000, but things didn't go as planned.
"I think it was a pretty huge failure in a lot of ways."
That didn't stop her. She eventually became one of the top vocal coaches in the city. As exciting as it was, this left Kira longing for more.
Discouraged by what she saw in the music industry and finding no place for her music, she eventually stopped writing and singing. But at the end of 2017, something changed. Kira found Jesus.
"I became a Christian. I had a radical conversion in 2017," said Kira. "I went to bed one night and woke up at 3:00 in the morning, hearing the most amazing song. And I hadn't heard songs in a very long time, and it was worship. And I had never thought, why don't I write worship? It just never would have occurred to me. And I feel like God just started giving me song after song."
Seeking a better way in music, Kira left the darkness of the music industry for a new path.
She is now a Christian singer-songwriter and music producer who continues to coach, mentor and produce singers and songwriters who want to use their gifts to uplift others and glorify God.
Along this journey, Kira was also searching for a soulmate.
"I was praying, asking God to choose my husband. Like a good father who knows what's right for me. I surrender it completely. If it means I'm single for the rest of my life, if that's your plan, then I'm OK with that too. So I'm just going to wait. And I waited."
Just a few months later, Kira's prayers were answered. She was introduced to a man named Nic, and just 30 days after they first met, they were married.
Today on Connections, Kira shares her powerful testimony and how this eventually led her to meet her husband.