| Biography: | Jade was born and raised in Hawaii, on the beautiful island of Oahu. From a very early age she was deeply involved with music. Her first solo performance occurred in the second grade, when she sang “Somewhere Over the Rainbow” in a recital. Not long after that her mom brought home a copy of The Phantom of the Opera soundtrack and she was hooked. She fell more and more in love with singing each day, and begged her mom for voice lessons. She remembers at her first few voice lessons she was working on the R&B/Soul song “When You Believe” from The Prince of Egypt. “One day I added my own little thing to the song. I sang these ‘Oooos’ and I kept going higher and higher. My voice teacher exclaimed, ‘Where did that come from!’ The very next lesson she had me singing ‘Ave Maria’.” That’s what Jade has been singing ever since, the little girl with the grown-up voice.
Jade actually started as a pianist and a dancer, studying mostly ballet and hula. Her piano playing as helped her immensely as a singer, and she never wants to give that up. She would love to compose her own music, and has been experimenting with different songs. She has a strong love of acting as well, and could see herself doing movies and television one day. Jade loves all types of music, but her favorite genres include: Classical, Broadway, Celtic, and Pop from the 30s, 40s, and 50s (what she deems Bing Crosby music). “I guess some people would call me old school,” she laughs. She attributes her love of music to her family. While her dad took her and her two brothers around in his truck, they would listen to Billy Idle, U2, The Cure, and The Cranberries. Her mom had her listening to the sounds of Bing Crosby, Irving Berlin, and Rodgers and Hammerstein. “It was a strange mixture,” she recalls. It aided her tremendously, though, and gave her a strong foundation in all the different styles of music.
As a teenager, while most of her peers were listening to Christina Aguilera or the latest rap hit, she was listening to Charlotte Church, Sarah Brightman, Hayley Westenra, Bing Crosby and Josh Groban. “I used to sing along to their CDs, and I realized that I could sing like them and hit all of their notes. They were definitely huge influences in my life. Not only is their style very different from the bubble gum pop we are so used to hearing, they have such strong and pure vocals.” Jade hopes to do the same. Jade doesn’t know what the future holds; only that music will be a huge part of it. As for right now, she is quite content to be doing what she loves: singing her heart out.
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