Courtney Harrell, a Dorchester native who built a career as an accomplished vocalist, performer, songwriter, and educator, has moved out to the West Coast to work as a casting producer on “America’s Got Talent” (AGT).

Harrell grew up in a Victorian home on Columbia Road, which her family has occupied for more than 40 years. She spent her youth playing at Franklin Park, attending the Strand Theatre, and participating in Madison Park’s city music program at Berklee College of Music.

She has gone on to become a Grammy-nominated singer-songwriter, and Berklee honoree at its Alumni Achievement Awards.

While she now lives in Los Angeles, she still frequently comes back to Boston and Berklee. “Sometimes when you get out of your hometown, and you land in a city like LA you tend to think that you made it and that you can forget where you came from, but I just can’t. My life source is my home and the people I love in Boston. Boston is everything to me,” said Harrell.

By first grade, Harrel knew her future was in music. By middle school, she was participating in Handel and Haydn programs at the New England Conservatory and the Tanglewood Music Center Fellowship at the Boston Symphony Orchestra. By high school she was taking courses at Berklee.
“At seven years old, I already knew,” Harrell said. “There wasn’t this epiphany, I just knew that music was what I was going to do and go to school for, which is why I started at 12 in certain programs.”

Juggling her high school curriculum and music programs, Harrell also took on the responsibilities of being a single mother at just 17 years old. “Madison Park had a daycare for students who were having children [and my son] went to school with me,” Harrell said. “I was able to accomplish the things that I’ve accomplished in spite of being a single mother and because of the love, the dedication, and the commitment of my family and friends in Boston.”

After high school, Harrell attended Brandeis University for a year before transferring to Berklee on a full scholarship and a major in music business. The years following Berklee brought many opportunities. She signed with the New York Chapter of American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers (ASCAP) and started to write songs for major artists including Ariana Grande, Beyonce, and Mary J. Blige. Harrell’s songs have also been featured on television in shows such as “Grey’s Anatomy” and “Think Like a Man.”

Despite her success, Harrell took a step back in 2006 to be closer to her son by working as a music teacher at the Lyndon K-8 School in West Roxbury, where, she said, her students’ concerts were just as enjoyable for her as working on “AGT.”

In 2009, she left the classroom, and by 2010 she was a backup singer on tour with John Legend. Five years later, when she auditioned for season 11 of “The Voice,” she made it into the top 10.

Now she takes part in another reality competition show, but this time it’s from behind the scenes at “AGT,” finding, developing, and producing talent. “Up until like 2017 I’ve been in front of the camera or the talent holding the mic in a professional capacity. This puts me behind the curtain to kind of see how everything works and how decisions are made and why someone is good for television or for radio and why someone may not be,” said Harrell. “That part is really interesting and also restorative for me. As an artist, you get a lot of rejection, and you don’t always know why people are making the choices that they’re making. So being on this side allows me to see why something may or may not have happened for me.”

She enjoys getting to provide others with the same opportunities she sought. “I love to help people amplify their point of view, more so than just their talent. ‘We’ve heard it all before, but we haven’t heard it through your lens. What is life like for you?’ I see something in this person, not just the talent. When you watch moments like that turn into a golden buzzer moment and you work hard as a team to bring that to life, it’s just really, really, really rewarding.”

Even as gold confetti pours down from the ceiling of the Pasadena Civic Auditorium’s theatre and Harrell witnesses someone’s dreams coming true, she remembers the neighborhood that shaped her own. “Some of those skills and that ability to create and to take risks came from my growing up in Dorchester and then applying that kind of heart, determination, and grit to my career,” she said. “They have championed me. I feel like my wins are my city’s wins. I’m really grateful for that.”