Beauty and Photography Tips

This is a blog post that I’ve been wanting to write for a long time, but knew it would be time consuming and so I kept putting it off.  But no more.

I’ve received quite a lot of questions from my fellow female friends who have asked “Where did you find that dress?”, “What type of foundation do you use?”, “How did you get your hair to do that?”, Etc.

Here it is – a whole lot of beauty/fashion tips and secrets that I’ve learned through having to do many photo shoots, stage performances, and red carpets. I am NO EXPERT, but here is what I know

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Before I start, I just want to say that I used to be of the train of thought that “You are what you are and there’s not much you can do about it.”  But then usually someone else has come along (a beauty professional) and shown me that I don’t have to just “deal” with what I have, but there are tricks to improve oneself, or hide things, or what have you.  And since I am far from perfect, here are some of the things I’ve learned.

MAKE-UP TIPS

#1 – Properly prep your skin beforehand.  The best way to get awesome looking skin is to have your “canvas” all prepped.  The biggest thing is exfoliating all the dead skin off and moisturizing afterwards.

My make-up artist usually has me apply a vitamin serum, moisturizer, and under-eye cream.  The under-eye cream helps the makeup to not settle into those fine lines. It also works great to pat on even after you’ve put your makeup on for touch-ups.  I had to do this when I was filming in the desert for my “Requiem” video shoot.  After 3 days of shooting and not getting enough sleep and having the dusty desert sand get all over my face, my eyes were looking really “tired”.  Noelle (my makeup artist) dabbed some under-eye cream and it fixed the problem right up.

#2 – Use a good HD Foundation for a flawless natural look.  I was only introduced to “High Definition Foundation” last year when I was in Los Angeles.  And now I’m hooked.

Because most cameras all film in HD now, the clarity of the way peoples skin shows up on camera is super enhanced.  You don’t want to look like you are wearing cakey foundation.  But you also want to still get coverage for little flaws.

These are a couple of my favorite foundations and I’ve used them for the last year, so I know they work really well:

Givenchy Photo Perfexion

Smashbox HD Healthy FX Foundation

I also use this foundation “prep” formula underneath, which helps prevent the makeup from settling into fine lines as well. A “BB cream” is actually something you can wear alone without foundation – it is a combo of serum, moisturizer, SPF and it’s tinted so you can wear it as a sheer-type foundation. OR you can wear it underneath a foundation for more coverage, as a base.  It has been used in the Asian market for years, and a lot of women actually use it as their cream and it has improved wrinkles and dark spots.

Smashbox Camera Ready BB Cream

#3 – False Eyelashes.  Use them.  They make a huge difference in your look.  Being a fair-haired person myself, my eyelashes are very blonde and short.  I have to wear a whole lot of mascara to get them to stand out, and even still they are not very impressive.  So if I’m doing a photo shoot or an event, I will use false lashes.

Katy Perry has a great line of false lashes that I’ve used many times before, and they are definitely some of my favorite.

Here is a great shot where you can see my eyelashes (and Viktoria’s too). We are both wearing Katy Perry false lashes in this photo shoot.

#4 – Don’t be afraid of the “Wet Line”.  I admit I feel really dumb saying this, but I only just learned how to do this a few months ago when I did my photo shoot for “Illumination”.  The eyeliner “Wet Line” look.

Typically I’ve always applied my eyeliner underneath my eyes close to my under eyelashes and above the top eyelashes.  But there is a certain dramatic look you can acheive by applying the eyeliner to the wetline of your eye – especially if you’re going for a smokey eye look.  The key is to using a quality eye liner, preferably with beeswax.

This is the type of look I’m referring to:

Here is a fantastic eye liner that works great for this and actually stays on the wetline for a long time before wearing off (as you usually have to touch it up quite often, especially if you have watery eyes like me).

Loreal Extra Intense Liquid Pencil Eye Liner

#5 – Applying shadow in the right places.  You can add years to your face by applying eye shadow incorrectly. But you can also reverse your age by applying it correctly.

You open your eyes up more and look younger if you put a lighter shadow in the upper outer corners under your brows, like this:

It depends on your eye shape, but sometimes when you put a lighter shade above your eye with a dramatic color in the crease of your lid, you can sometimes look older than your years.  This is a beautiful model, but I just wanted to demonstrate the look I’m talking about (see below). I think the reason is it creates a sort of heaviness to the lid.

I actually had to look extremely long and hard to find an actress in today’s Hollywood with the above makeup look on the red carpet (lighter shade on eyelid, with dramatic shadow above it), and after looking at Google images forever, I did find Ashley Greene:

Here is Ashley Greene again but with a darker shadow on the eyelid. I think she looks much more youthful in the 2nd look:

#6 – Rule of Thumb:  If you have dramatic eyes, less color on the lips and vice versa.  If you want to have a dramatic smokey eye look (like Ashley above), then you need to do a pink or nude lipstick.  You never want your eyes and lips to compete with each other, or else you will look like you should be working the street corner

The same goes for if you want to sport some really red lips, you should do a simple eye look.  Here are some great examples:

Big dramatic Eyes, Nude lips:

Luscious red lips, minimal clean eyes:

#7 – Best way to Conceal...I have always had stuff to “conceal” on my face.  For example, I was born with a birthmark on my chin.  Even though I had it “removed” via laser surgery when I was 14 yrs old, some of it has come back.  And so I’m always having to conceal it on my chin (or later Photoshop it out).

Here is me before a video shoot (for Requiem) with absolutely NO MAKEUP on, and you can see the two little red spots on my chin from my birthmark:

Here I am (with Noelle – my makeup artist) after getting my hair halfway done, and my foundation/eyes done. Notice birthmark is no longer there:

The only way I’ve found to cover up stuff like birthmarks (or zits, or whatever) is to put a little more concealer on than you THINK you need (because it comes off), and make sure to powder it afterwards. The powder will set the concealer and hold it on longer. I like to use a colorless powder (usually “white”).  And then my biggest advice after that is just DON’T TOUCH THE AREA.

HAIR TIPS

My hair is the thing that I get the most comments on.  I have a TON of it.  Not only is it long, but it’s thick and I just have an ample amount of it.

My hair is naturally curly and so I have the option of wearing it curly or straight.  It takes a LOT of effort to straighten my hair though, and so I don’t usually wear it straight very often.

Some of my favorite hairstyles have to do with curls, and so I will share some of my tips and tricks to get great looking hair.

#1 – Curling Iron + Pinning = Awesome curls.  Over the years I’ve curled my hairs all sorts of different ways from using a curling iron to hot rollers.  But probably for the past year or so I’ve been just using my curling iron because I discovered a new way of using it that creates really great shaped curls.

I used to roll my curling iron from the ends of my hair up. This way of curling is okay for the underneath layers of hair that people aren’t going to notice. But for the top layers and the front of my hair, I use a technique that is shown here in this awesome Target hair ad:

Basically, you take strands of hair and about halfway down start rolling the curling iron and slowly turning as you go, then pulling the ends up and around.  What you achieve is a very rounded out spring curl. AND as you will notice in the video, the stylist pins some of the curls to her head. This is my best secret for getting great hair!  After each strand I curl, after taking it out of the curling iron I roll it back up and then use a bobby pin and pin it to my head.  I do this will all the outside curls and leave them pinned up until I’m ready to get dressed and go.

#2 – Herbal Essence Spray Gel to Hold Curls.  I spray my dry hair with this stuff before I curl it, and it is my best secret for getting curls to last all night long.  I’ve used this product for like 10 years and I swear by it.

#3 – Teasing – To get some volume to my hair, I usually take a comb and tease it underneath.  For ponytails, I will tease the hair before I put it into the pony, and then afterwards I will also tease just the top layer of hair in the pony (next to the rubberband). You always want to be sure to sort of comb down the tease afterwards so your hair doesn’t look too messy.

CLOTHING STYLE TIPS

I admit I am a total bargain shopper.  There are SOME things that I am willing to fork out a little more cash for (like dresses), but for the most part I like to find deals. And even still, my definition of “paying more for a dress” is still pretty inexpensive compared to some women out there.

And because I am a mom of two little energetic boys (who do NOT do well inside department stores), I do most of my shopping online.

Here are a few of my favorite places that I usually find really cute clothes from:

DRESSES

ideeli.com – This is a sample sale site.  They only have whatever clothes are available for about 24 hours and then they move onto the next designer.

The white silk Nicole Miller dress that I wore for my Illumination CD Release concert last Fall was a dress that I bought off of ideeli. It regularly sold $1100, and I got it for $250.

I also bought the red dress from my Illumination photo shoot off of ideeli.com. It’s a wrap dress that you can wear like 20 different ways.  I bought a red one, and a turquoise one (that I wore at last year’s Indie Music Channel Awards).

promdressesol.com - This is a site where I’ve gotten MANY dresses from.  I try to stay modest in my dresses – which means I need them to have sleeves, backs and fronts  This website has THE most variety of “modest” dresses that I’ve ever found, and they are not the cheesy bridesmaid kind either (you know what I’m talking about, right?)

Here are a few of the dresses that I have gotten from promdressesol.com:

Both Viktoria’s and my dresses are from this website in this photo:

I also just bought one more from them for the ZMR Awards show that is happening on May 11th. I won’t show you which one though – just to keep it a surprise

Casual Clothes

Alloyapparel.com – This website has some pretty cute stuff on it, and usually for good prices.  I LOVE long maxi dresses, and they always have a lot of those. And I love that they are super long – because sometimes they just don’t always make them full length for us tall people (I’m 5’7″).  I recently bought this red maxi dress from Alloy…

Express.com – LOVE Express. Probably one of my favorite stores in the world.

DorothyPerkins.com – This is a new site for me that I just discovered not too long ago, but they’ve got some really cute stylish pieces on there for low prices.

 

TIPS FOR THE RED CARPET

Again, some of these things I feel dumb for not knowing before, but all I can say is there are always solutions to “problems”! You just have to be “in the know”

#1 – Spanx.  Wear them.  Even skinny girls sometimes need them. Katy Perry even wears them!  I own like 3 different kinds of Spanx. One with shoulder straps, ones without, and ones that are like a tank top that you just wear underneath a shirt.   Spanx totally hold you in, and get rid of any wierd curviture that just should not be there….like the following model who was brave enough to show us all the difference:

I will also say that I have tried many different kinds of brands of these types of “things”, and Spanx is the only one that really works.  A lot of other roll down, stretch out, rip, or don’t cover all the right places.  Just trust me and go with Spanx.

 #2 – Sally Hanson Airbrushed Legs. ‘Nuff said.  I have used this on my arms to get rid of freckles or “red dots”.

PHOTOGRAPHY TIPS

All right. This is the last thing I will talk about.

My friends are always telling me “Jen, you are so photogenic.”  I am actually NOT, but I just have learned the best way to pose for pictures and some great tips on how to look better in photos.

#1 – Stand up straight.  It makes a huge difference in how you look in a photo, and will also make you look thinner if you aren’t hunching over.

#2 – Create some space in between your arms and your waist.  In other words, if you want to LOOK like you have a waist, then don’t let it disappear into your clothing or arms.

A great example of both #1 and #2 is this photo that fitness model Amanda Adams posted on Facebook a while back.  These two photos were only taken a few moments apart, but look how different she looks based on two different poses. She is totally slouching on the left and holding her arms close to her.  In the 2nd photo, she is standing up straight, hip out, and created some space between her arms and waist.

#3 – Take photos where the camera angle is HIGHER than you.  A big mistake a lot of people make is having their photo taken from an angle where the camera is below them.  This is not the most flattering angle for anyone! It only accentuates anyone’s double chin.  Here are two examples from a photo shoot I had for my first album:

#4 – Pose Correctly. When standing, I’ve found the two poses that make me look the slimmest (because let’s admit, I’m a curvy girl!) are the following:

Hand on Hip - great way to make waist look smaller

One Foot in Front – Great way to narrow hip and leg area

#5 – Know what you want, and don’t be afraid to say so.  I think a lot of people get photos back and are unhappy because they didn’t express their ideas or concerns to the photographer.  If there are certain angles you don’t like, be sure to bring those up.  If you favor one side of your face over the other, then if you do profile shots make sure you tell your photographer that.

#6 – It’s also a great idea to do a run-through of your hair, makeup and your outfit BEFORE you do an event.  For example, the dress that I wore in my Illumination Paramount Theater photo shoot – while it was a GORGEOUS dress, I didn’t take into account that it didn’t work well when I sat down at the piano.  It completely POOFED out and made my stomach look pregnant or something.  So you will see that there ended up being no official “sitting down at the piano” shots from that photo shoot because the dress just didn’t function well sitting down.  This was something I didn’t exactly practice doing with the dress before the photo shoot.

Anyway, I’m going to stop here.  This is a lot to take in.  The most important thing to remember is that YOU are beautiful without all the makeup, hair, and fancy clothes. Truly you are.  But if you must get all dolled up one day for anything special in particular, I hope that these tips help you out. These are all things I wish someone had told me a LONG time ago.

P.S. If you have any more questions about anything I didn’t cover, please leave a comment below!

Diary of a Song: Illumination

This is the sixth of a series of blog posts entitled “Diary of a Song“, where I share the stories behind each of the songs from my new album “Illumination“.

At the end of each post, I also include a link to buy the sheet music, and the MP3 download.

Illumination

“Illumination” is track #3 and the title track on my new album.

The story behind this song is this…

About two years ago, I saw an ad on one of the many TV/Film 3rd party company licensing websites where a European luxury car commercial was looking for music for a commercial.  I don’t normally compose from scratch for opportunities like these (usually just submit already finished works), but the payout on this one was quite substantial and therefore I made an effort.  Okay, it was VERY substantial.  This one licensing opportunity would have paid me more than my music made in one year. AND the description of music that they were looking for basically almost perfectly described my style of music.  I knew I had to try.

I spent a lot time imagining a fast sleek car winding down a highway with curves. A BMW perhaps? Mercedez?  Who knows.  In my mind, I pictured a sort of Bond car, or luxury sedan.  Aston Martin perhaps.  I imagined the wheels turning and turning and the rhythm it created with its movements.

And thus the opening 16th notes of Illumination were born:

Because I knew this has to be a 1 minute clip of music, my attack on the composition of this song was quite different than how I normally compose.  I was crunched for time and needed to get to the main melody of the song from the get-go, so right after that short intro I immediately went to the theme of the music. Again….imagining a fast car zooming by.

And then, the next portion of the song, is me imagining the car driving off into the distance, sparkling clean, shiny wheels and a nice logo and a man’s voice coming on (sexy English accent) to say something about the car or whatnot…

That was basically my entire composition for the car commercial, which I then added orchestra to.  I wanted it to be simple, yet powerful.

So I only added: Violins, French horns, Percussion (Glen Gabriel designed the percussion, which also includes some synth effects). And the final end result for the 1 minute commercial version of “Illumination” ended up like this:

I proudly submitted the song by the deadline and waited to hear back.

Waited…

Waited…

What Happened With the Car Commercial…

And finally, heard back. My song did NOT make the cut for the commercial and yes I was super sad.  Especially because I spent a lot of time and effort on tailoring (what I thought) was the perfect song for this car commercial.

So the funny part about this story, is several months later, I was online watching new movie trailers on Yahoo’s movie section.  Before one of the movie trailers, a car ad came on.   I immediately looked up and took notice, because the song sounded an awful LOT like my song “Illumination”.  It was even weirder that my husband came in from the other room to find out what it was, because his response was also “Hey, isn’t that you?”.

But it wasn’t me.  But it was so incredibly close to my song that I almost thought it was mine.

I was in such shock that I didn’t catch the name of the car.  I thought I had seen Land Rover on the commercial, but I wasn’t certain.  Will and I must have refreshed the browser a hundred times trying to find that commercial again, but it never popped up. We also searched YouTube and the Lexus/Landrover websites trying to find this commercial, and yet we could not find it. So annoying.  So I just forgot about it.

But as I was in LA last year and met with my sound engineer, Rob Beaton, who deals a lot with sound libraries and companies that scout music for commercial work – I told him about what had happened with my song and that car commercial.  He told me that often times these ad agencies that scout music for commercials will find the music that they DO want, but they won’t want to pay the fee for it, so they will actually hire composers to write something very similar to it.

I don’t want to start drama or whatever, because I have no proof and I’ve never been able to find the commercial since then, but I have this little inkling that my song was heard by the ad agency (that I submitted it to), and perhaps replicated by another composer and variated ever so slightly so they could not be accused of plagiarizing. I have no way of proving this since I used a 3rd party to submit my song – I don’t know the name of the ad agency, nor the name of the car company.

BUT the story does not end badly.

The GOOD news in all of this was that I still owned the rights to the song. It was mine to do whatever I wanted with.

I let it sit for a long, long time until I finally came up with the inspiration to work on it again.  It was kind of hard – as I had the first version really stuck in my head.  But eventually I was able to go back to the drawing board, dissect it a bit, and start over.

What I ended up with was a 4 minute long extended version, a couple key changes, a major-keyed section, and a pretty dramatic ending.  You can hear a sample of how I changed the transition of the short clip to extend here:

My album “Illumination” was actually originally going to be called “Portraits”, but as I kept working on it – the title Illumination just seemed more fitting for the vibrant cinematic music evolving for it.  And as I was choosing photography to go with the song (as this was an art-based album with my Dad’s photography), I chose this photo as the perfect representation of Illumination.

You can purchase that beautiful photo of Ruby Beach, Oregon Sunburst directly from my Dad at his website.

More Illumination Projects

As if the song hadn’t evolved enough, there was still more to come.

In the summer of 2012, I met with the conductor of the Evergreen Philharmonic Orchestra and arranged for me to perform with the orchestra in December of 2012.  It was a lot of hard work to transcribe the song for a full live symphony orchestra, but it got done.  I had the help of a couple transcriptionists (Travis Tagart, Daniel McBride).  While I did a lot of the notation myself, I wasn’t familiar enough with the various clefs of brass and woodwind instruments and wanted to be sure I got it exactly right.  I was so thankful for the help.

I should also note, that as I said, I originally only wrote the song for Violins, French Horns, Percussion and then later added Celli as well.  Transcribing it for a full symphony meant adding MANY more additional parts that were not in the original, and also dividing up the violin parts among the various string instruments. For example, in my recording, there are about EIGHT different violin sections playing various harmonies. But in a real orchestra, there are only TWO violin sections. So I transcribed some of the parts over to the violas, and then had each stand within the two sections playing different parts. Usually there are 2 violinists to one music stand and they play the same part, but instead I had them each split with different harmonies.

The end result was obviously NOT the same as the recording, but still very fun and surreal to hear my music performed LIVE with an entire symphony!  Here is the video if you care to watch.  I made a few blips here and there, but overall it was a really great concert and experience.

I’m still planning to shoot a music video for this song, but the plans for it have undergone many changes and I’m still waiting for the stars align for it to all work out how it’s supposed to.

Sheet Music

And now for the moment many of you have been waiting for, here is the link to BUY THE SHEET MUSIC for “Illumination”. I’ve noted in the music that there are a few measures where when I play it live, my part is minimal and the orchestra plays a lot.  But for the solo piano version, I have done some “orchestra reductions” into the part.

BUY THE SHEET MUSIC $3.95 - http://jenniferthomasmusic.com/store/productdetail.php?product=179

BUY THE MP3: http://www.amazon.com/Illumination/dp/B008O0NUSM/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1357268285&sr=8-2&keywords=jennifer+thomas+illumination

BUY AN AUTOGRAPHED COPY OF ILLUMINATION directly from Jennifer while copies are still in stock:  http://jenniferthomasmusic.com/store/illumination-audio-cd

Diary of a Song: Across the Starlit Sky

This is the fifth of a series of blog posts entitled “Diary of a Song“, where I share the stories behind each of the songs from my new album “Illumination“.

At the end of each post, I also include a link to buy the sheet music, and the MP3 download.

Across the Starlit Sky

This happens to be the only solo piano song on my new album.  It was among the last of the songs I was recording and preparing for the album, and as I listened to it over and over to try to get orchestration ideas for it (as well as listening to it in a mix with other songs), I decided this song was better by itself and the naked piano.

I wanted the listeners to create their own atmosphere for this song, and to feel like they were small beings amongst a huge universe.   Keeping the song piano-only was one way I felt that could be accomplished.

This song does not have any remarkable story behind it – other than I was just feeling very ponderous and melancholy while writing it.  I did write this song while my piano was positioned right in front of a rather large window in my living room – which at night I could see the starry sky (hence the name of the song).  I really enjoyed putting the major/minor transitions into the song.  It is a song that I really enjoying playing, because it helps me to connect to my feelings and whatever I might be thinking about at the time.

The photo that I chose to go with this song for the Cd booklet, is a picture my dad took of Mt. Rainier just before sunrise.  The funny story about this picture, is that he must have taken at least a half dozen trips to Mt. Rainier to get the perfect timelapse starry sky shot.  I really loved this particular one, but he was not happy with it – saying that it was not up to a professional photographer’s standards.  I won’t tell you all of the “flaws” he seemed to find in it, but I personally find it to be a beautiful photo and just perfect the way that it is.

A bigger view of the photo:

Upon staking out a spot next to the mountain to capture this photo, I believe my dad said he met a hiker who said he had been stalked by a cougar that night and so every little noise my dad would hear, he was very nervous about it being a mountain lion.

This song has received a high number of requests for the sheet music, and so pianists here it is:

You can download the SHEET MUSIC HERE:
http://jenniferthomasmusic.com/store/productdetail.php?product=178
You can download the MP3 from Amazon HERE:
http://www.amazon.com/Illumination/dp/B008O0NUSM/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1354842895&sr=8-2&keywords=jennifer+thomas+illumination

You can purchase the beautiful photography HERE:
http://www.ronsouthworth.com

Diary of a Song: After the Storm

This is the fourth of a series of blog posts entitled “Diary of a Song“, where I share the stories behind each of the songs from my new album “Illumination“.

At the end of each post, I also include a link to buy the sheet music, and the MP3 download.

After the Storm

As most of you know, last night they announced the Grammy nominations.  I was really hoping to see my name on the list of 5 nominees for Pop Instrumental, but alas I did not.  I had worked very hard for the nomination for the past several months – lots of hours were spent on trying to secure this nomination, and I was told by many that I had a real shot at this.

I know that having a Grammy nomination does not define who I am, and does not mean that I am any more or less talented.  Sometimes these awards are very political as they are peer-voted.  But as I tend to always try to have the best of faith in people, I had hoped that my album would simply wow everyone and they would just have to vote for it.  Even despite the tremendous support from my fellow Recording Academy friends, it didn’t happen, and yet I have received an outpouring of love in the past 24 hours from my fans who have told me over and over that I won in their books, and that my music has inspired them and that it means a great to them.

Despite whatever accolades you may read in my bio, you also must know that I have had my share of trials and let-downs as well.

For every award I have won, there are many more that I have been turned down for.  For whatever film licensing or commercial work I’ve gotten, I have probably submitted my music to dozens more and not gotten a licensing deal.  I have performed as soloists with symphonies, but have also had many many auditions where I flopped and was turned away.

In the midst of all of this and the news of the Grammy NON-nomination, and with a promise I made earlier this week to release more new sheet music this week, it couldn’t be a more perfect moment to release AFTER THE STORM, track #2 on my album Illumination.

I tell you this, because it is a very appropriate intro to the story behind After the Storm.

How “AFTER THE STORM” CAME ABOUT…

On very special and rare occasions, I feel propelled by pure Divine inspiration to write a particular song.  This happened with The Red Aspens, Eventide, Will’s Song, and yes, After the Storm.

Composing does not come fast for me, but when Divine inspiration happens, the music usually always flows like an outpouring of love from my fingers to the keys. I just know how the song needs to be written.

I don’t often write much about my religious beliefs, but most know that I do have them and am very close to my Savior and have a very strong belief in God.  It is a central part of my life, and my family’s life.  I owe everything to Him, especially my talents and abilities.  And for some reason, even though I am not perfect and make oh-so-many mistakes in my day to day life, God still continues to bless me and watch out for me.

Last year was not an easy year for me.

Sometime I will tell you more about it, but for now I’ll just say it was not an easy year.  Despite that, somehow I was able to write some very great songs out of that period in my life.  It’s true, that out of hardships come some of the history’s greatest art.  Not saying that my music is part of history’s greatest art, but for ME personally, some of my best music has come out of hard times (also great times too ).

As I started composing After the Storm (which I had not named yet), I imagined myself walking on the beach with my Savior, talking to Him, and telling Him about some of the things I was struggling with.  The ocean has always been a big part of my childhood and adult life, and brings a lot of inspiration for me.  And as I wrote the song, I thought about the poem about the footprints in the sand….and how the poet talked about going through some of the darkest times in his life and feeling so alone, seeing his lonely footprints in the sand.  Later God told him that it was not his footprints but God’s footprints and that He had carried the troubled man through his hardships.

I continued to work on the song more and more…

And in the midst of this, I kept thinking about my friend Dixie.  Some of you may know her, she comments on my Facebook posts quite often and has been a long time fan of my music.  But in recent years she has also become a close friend.  She is one of the most spunky personalities I know – just very feisty, honest, a real hoot.  And she has very good taste in music, if I do say

Anyway, one day, I saw a Facebook post from her where she mentioned having to go to the hospital. I was surprised, and asked her what was wrong and what had happened.  She replied and told me that she had breast cancer, and she thought that I knew.  Well, no, I did not know.  I would have had no idea either, because she was always so positive and spunky and never complained about anything.

Dixie also loves the ocean, and I also happen to know that she loved lighthouses as well.

The more I continued to work on my song, the more I knew that this song was for her.  She was in my thoughts as I finished up the song, and as I worked with my dad on choosing a photograph that would go perfectly with this song, I ended up choosing this one:

My dad (Ron Southworth, who took all the photos for Illumination), took this photo at Bandon Beach in Northern Oregon, at the Coquille Lighthouse right as a storm was passing over.  I think the colors are amazing in this photo, and to me the lighthouse represents safety and hope after and through the storm.

I named my song “After the Storm” and dedicated it to Dixie. I felt so amazed by her attitude through her struggles, as she made her way through her personal storms and conquered them.

MY OWN PERSONAL STORM…and OTHERS TOO

Even though I originally started writing this song by way of inspiration through a hard time in my life, I would say the majority of the song was written with Dixie in mind.   This was was always FOR her.

Shortly after releasing my album, I also received a very long email from a young woman who told me she had been going through a very difficult time in her life over the past couple of years, but after hearing “After the Storm” and “New Life” from my album, she felt hope for the first time.  She told me that she listened to the song several times every single day and it gave her the energy and peace to make it through each day.

I can’t tell you how much hearing something like that effects me and makes me feel so fulfilled.  I am so happy to know that I was able to help someone else through my music.

This song also helped heal me through a hard time this past August when I had surgery…but instead of writing about it, I uploaded a video of a house concert that I did in Salt Lake City in September – where I told the story to the audience and then performed it.

You can view it below.

Here is a photo from me at my CD release concert, just a few weeks after that surgery that I had.

Also, here is a photo with Dixie, her husband, and I at the house concert in Salt Lake City.

So, to say the least, this song has a special place in my heart.

I’ve prepared the SHEET MUSIC for release, and feel that it is just as compelling as a piano solo (without the orchestration).

THE LINK FOR THE SHEET MUSIC IS HERE:
http://jenniferthomasmusic.com/store/productdetail.php?product=177

THE LINK TO BUY THE MP3 on AMAZON IS HERE:
http://www.amazon.com/Illumination/dp/B008O0NUSM/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1354842895&sr=8-2&keywords=jennifer+thomas+illumination

THE LINK TO PURCHASE THE LIGHTHOUSE PHOTOGRAPHY IS HERE:
http://ronsouthworth.com/fineartgallery.htm

Diary of a Song: Pachelbel’s Canon

This is the third of a series of blog posts entitled “Diary of a Song“, where I share the stories behind each of the songs from my new album “Illumination“.

At the end of each post, I also include a link to buy the sheet music, and the MP3 download.

Pachelbel’s Canon (A Duet)

This past year, as I was finishing up composing the music for my Illumination album, and figuring out the balance of the tracks (how many original songs vs. covers, fast vs. slow, etc.) I went to my fans to ask them for suggestions for one more Classical song to put on the album.  The song that had the most requests was Canon in D by Pachelbel.

I cringed.

Pachelbel’s Canon is probably one of THE most overdone songs, and as a classical musician I have had to perform this song countless times for concerts, weddings, Christmas, and church.  I know that people just absolutely LOVE this song, but usually for musicians we sort of groan when requested to play it.  And for me personally, I also sometimes cringe when I listen to others perform it as well.  I say that not because I don’t like the song – it’s just that for me it had become a broken record and I had grown super tired of hearing it over the years.  If were a non-musician and only listened to the song a select few times, then of course it would probably be one of my favorite songs too.

But to be honest, when I asked my fans what Classical song they wanted most, I actually did think in my head “Please don’t say Canon, please don’t say Canon…”

And of course, they all wanted Canon.

One fan, though, mentioned doing Canon as a piano duet.

That got me thinking. If I were able to arrange Canon as a duet and make it different enough so that it was fresh and new, then I would totally do it.

So I started messing around on the piano and trying to figure out ways to arrange Canon in D so that it was a whole different approach to the run-of-the-mill versions that I always hear everyone doing.  I also wanted to keep it true to the original form of the song too though – so it was a bit tricky.  How do I make this song different, but still the same?  I learned the hard way with “O Mio Babbino Caro” from my first album, that taking very uber popular classical songs and making them strikingly different is not always loved by purist classical fans out there.

What I ended up with using most of the traditional Canon chords but adding some close 2nds to modernize the progression.  You can hear this here:

For those who want a quick lesson on what a “Canon” is, it’s a song where one instruments begins doing something and then another instrument comes in and repeats the same thing.  Kind of like when you would sing Row, Row, Row Your Boat as a round when you were a kid in school choir.  I didn’t really feel like spending an entire minute of the song expanding the traditional Canon rounds and so while keeping the chord progressions going, I skipped ahead to the resolve section (which normally doesn’t happen until quite a bit later in the song).

Right after the resolve section, I brought it back down to the simple chords and then after 4 bars, brought in some synth beats to bring an modernized feeling to the song.  I really wanted the song to still resonate emotionally with fans, but I wanted to also give it some “umph”.  I think I was able to accomplish through both the orchestration and piano part to keep an authentic “Canon in D” feel, yet have a freshness to it.

Listen here:

I might add, that it was a challenge trying to write a duet. I’d never done this before, and it took a lot of cross checking to be sure that I wasn’t writing one part that was stealing another part’s piano keys.  This would have been so much simpler to write for two separate pianos, however, most people do not have access to two pianos and I wanted to be sure my fans could download the sheet music and perform this as a duet. Thus, I wrote it for ONE piano, TWO hands, and TWO bums on the piano bench.

I just thought this part turned out really pretty

By this point we’re already 2 minutes into the song and we still haven’t heard the famous melody.

Ah, bam. There it is: 

It’s in a different key too, I might add. Which is why I ultimately decided against calling the song “Canon in D”, because it really was not in D.  So I called it “Pachelbel’s Canon”.

After the melodic section, I of course had to amp it up because it just wouldn’t be one of my songs if I didn’t have some sort of major climax in the middle of a song, and you can hear that here:

After the big to-do, the song goes back to the same chords from the beginning and really tones it all back down to un-hyper levels.  I think the song ends on a very traditional note, reminding the listener that they did just hear one of the great Classical pieces of music in all of history and so let’s show some respect.

I would say, while my attitude towards the song at the beginning was not the best, I ended up actually having a LOT of fun composing this and orchestrating it as well.  The orchestration actually really turned out a lot differently than I had originally planned on too.  Definitely much bigger and fuller.

Anyway I hope you like my version of this popular classic.  I have actually received some really great comments from people saying things like how this is the best version of Canon they have ever heard, or that when they saw this track was on the album they pre-judged it but after listening to it they found that it was completely fresh and it has become one of their favorites.  I would say my goal of trying to make this song unique was accomplished. Thanks for all your awesome kind words everyone.

Piano students – if you would like to perform this song with a duet partner, you can go to the link below to get the SHEET MUSIC.  I purposely wrote this song so that it would be able to be performed 100% okay WITHOUT the orchestration. There are no lulls or blanks spots, it’s all filled with both piano parts.

SHEET MUSIC:  http://jenniferthomasmusic.com/store/productdetail.php?product=176

You can DOWNLOAD the MP3 from any of these links below, depending on your online store of choice. Personally, I recommend people to buy from Amazon or iTunes because it helps my rankings go up on those websites.

AMAZON MP3:  http://www.amazon.com/Illumination/dp/B008O0NUSM/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1354582320&sr=8-2&keywords=jennifer+thomas+illumination

iTUNES: https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/illumination/id545693307

JENNIFER’S WEB STORE:  http://jenniferthomasmusic.com/store/productdetail.php?product=167

You can listen to and download the FREE SOLO PIANO VERSION here:

Finally, here is a LIVE performance that I did of the song at my August CD release concert (8/24/2012), featuring my piano student Kristen Yose as my duet partner.

Requiem For a Dream (Music Video): Behind the Scenes

I just completed a three-day film shoot for my official debut music video, for the song “Requiem For a Dream”.  This song is track #14 from my new album Illumination, and it is my rendition of the popular soundtrack piece by Clint Mansell.

The whole experience was just very positive for me – and I feel so lucky to have been able to work with all of the talented people that I did on this project.  Ryan K. McNeal (writer/director for “Minuet”) came up with the concept for the video, based on a quote by Dante Alighieri – “Beauty awakens the soul to act.” from his Divine Comedy.

Ryan outlined the concept in five movements:

Mov 1:  The Gates of Hell

Mov 2: Inferno

Mov 3: Purgatorio

Mov 4: Ascension

Mov 5: Paradiso/Heaven/Full Enlightenment

FINDING A PIANO:  The Almost Impossible Mission

You would think that finding a piano in Los Angeles would be pretty easy right?

Think again.

It took an enormous amount of time to find a piano for this shoot.   Being that we didn’t have a very large budget for this video, we initially tried to see what we could get for free or on trade.  That route quickly met a dead end.

Next, we started looking into piano stores – because usually stores have recital halls.  Most of the stores we spoke with either did not have the availability to accommodate a film crew, or their recital halls were not, um, “pretty” enough to look good on film.

We did end up finding Kassimoff’s Pianos in Hollywood, who agreed to let us shoot in their store. They are the Bluthner piano dearlership (one of the only ones in America), and were very kind and hospitable.  However, once they realized that we would not actually be recording live audio for the video, they had to back out due to a conflict of interest (my album was recorded using a Fazioli, and they did not want a Fazioli sound dubbed over their Bluthner pianos).

Understandable.  But yet again, back to square one.

I literally contacted every piano store in the LA area, as well as every concert hall, night club, or restaurant with a grand piano.  Most people did not return my emails, and the ones who did wanted too much money. I even put an ad out on LA Craigslist, as well as the user forums on the LA chapter NARAS board (Recording Academy).  It seemed that as soon as people heard the word “film” or “video shoot”, the cost went WAY up.

A week before the shoot, I found this odd church south of LA called “The Onion”, where the inside was circular with these cool lights.  They had a grand piano, and I had it arranged to film there.  Then when I asked if we could move the piano (which was right up against a wall) into the center of the room, they said “Oh no, the piano NEVER moves.”

Strike out, again.

It was only a few days before the shoot, and Ryan and I were really stressing about where we were going to find a piano at.  Ryan had been scouring Craigslist for a free or cheap piano as well. We had found a 6 foot grand that someone wanted to give away to a non-profit group, but the paperwork to take it off their hands would have taken longer than we had.  We found another upright grand on Craiglist, but when Ryan went to go take a look at it he found that the majority of the keys stuck and could not play.

I could go on and on about the various pianos we thought we found, and then didn’t – including the rock star I met (friend of a friend) who offered his 9 foot Young Chang piano that was in storage (that didn’t work out either).

Two days before the film shoot, I was to meet up with fellow composer Glen Gabriel from Sweden (who did most of the beats and additional orchestration on my album).  I asked him if he was game to come with me to Kassimoff’s Pianos to talk with them. He was….so off we went to schmooze some piano stores…

I had a slight hope in my mind that even though Kassimoff’s pianos would not let us film on their Bluthner pianos, that perhaps they might just have another brand of piano in the store we could possibly use.   And I also promised Helga (the 80 year old store owner) that I would stop by for a visit to come play their beautiful pianos. Afterall, I had never played on a Bluthner before.

Glen and I spent three hours at Kassimoff’s talking with the lovely store owners.  They were such kind people – all the way here from Germany and even had a quaint little home in the back of their shop.  Kyril offered us German cookies and cranberry juice, and told us all the stories of the people they had sold Bluthner pianos to over the last 50 years (their wall was full of celebrity photos, including some presidents of the United States).

 I also got to play a very interesting 9 foot Bluthner that was hand-picked by Marvin Hamlesch himself (see photo below).

At the conclusion of our wonderful visit, Helga was kind enough to allow me to use the ONE and only grand piano in their store that was not a Bluthner. It was a little 6 foot Steinway grand.  And for a discounted price, they delivered the Steinway Friday morning to our video shoot at the soundstage.

I have to say, once we finally had that piano, a HUGE stress was lifted from all of us.

And bonus perks – Helga introduced Glen to a very famous Swedish musician on the phone while we were there in the store.  The next Glen told me “I didn’t realize who he was!!!  Oh my gosh he’s famous in my country! I’m totally calling him again this week.”

THE PIANO PERFORMANCE SHOOT – Friday, Nov 16, 2012

So, Friday came and we all met at a soundstage in Korea Town in Los Angeles.  Ryan happened to find this independent owner who rented his stage out to indie filmmakers for a screaming deal.

Of course, first we had to get that piano unloaded and all set up…

Next, Noelle (my makeup artist) and I headed to the dressing room for hair and makeup.  Not complaining, but the morning came particularly early since we had all been out late the night before for the Hollywood Music in Media Awards.  But since our film “Minuet” actually WON the award, we were all in high spirits (the crew doing my music video was the same crew that filmed Minuet).

Yes here I am in all my natural make-up free glory…

While Noelle and I were doing hair and makeup, the crew was getting the Steinway set up on the white screen…

Then for the rest of the day we filmed my performance shots, until about 5:00 pm…

I hadn’t eaten since like 7:30 a.m., but I didn’t want to risk spilling on my dress and so I refused to eat until we finished filming my scenes.  When we were finally done, I don’t think I have ever eaten a turkey sandwich so fast in all my life.

Here is the dress that I wore for the piano scenes – it was absolutely gorgeous and perfect for what we were trying to do with the fan blowing on me, and creating this ethereal scene. Though we really had to pin me into that thing!  Just to make sure sleeves weren’t coming down, or things weren’t poking out – I think we used like 20 safety pins on me.

Here are some more shots from the piano scenes…

Meanwhile I was getting my piano scenes out of the way, our beautiful dancer Ivorie Jenkins was getting her makeup done in preparation for her dancing scenes…

I finally finished up my final scene and was allowed to put comfy clothes back on.  Noelle made the comment to me, “You are either super dressed up, or super casual. There is never any in-between for you is there?”

She’s right.  I’m either in a ballgown or sweat pants.  That is how I roll.

Here’s me totally content because a) I’m in my comfy outfit, and b) I finally have food in my tummy.

I was able to sit and relax and watch Ivorie as they filmed some of her dance sequence on the black screen.  She is just one of the most graceful dances I have ever seen. She most recently finished up dancing for Cirque de Soleil in Las Vegas.

Will, Noelle, and I left the film shoot to go back to our hotel to get a decent night’s sleep, knowing that we had to be up and ready to head to Joshua Tree National Park by 5:30 a.m. the next morning.

Once we got to the park, we checked into a Motel.  Funny part about this is we were worried we would not be able to find a motel so early in the day since check-in is usually not until the afternoon.

However, they let us check in early – and this was after they said they had no rooms available.

I was a bit confused, so I asked my husband what type of miracle did he pull to get them to allow us to have a room and so early in the day?

He replied, “I just told them that a rock star was here to film her music video in the park and they agreed to let us have an early room.”

I busted up laughing. Rock star? Um, sure why not.  Wrong genre but whatever.

As soon as we got our room, Noelle, Ivorie, and I began hair and makeup all over again – this time for the desert scenes.

Ivorie had some very intense “Swan Lake” makeup going on for her dance scenes that day…

As for me, I had a more dramatic look since I was doing a black dress for the desert shots (the video was filmed in black and white, so everything we did was for contrasting purposes).

By the time we found our location in the park and got set up and ready to go, we only had like an hour of light before the sun went down.  Jackson (the videographer) wanted to get some cool backlit shots of me before the sun went down…

The hardest part about shooting out in the middle of no where was the playback for the music.  Ryan had originally brought his ipod with a bluetooth – but then realized that they weren’t compatible or something. So I ended up using my little workout MP3 player and earbuds.  They wrapped the earbuds underneath my hair and down the back of my dress so you could not see them in the shots.  However, the hard part was that my MP3 player was not remote- so every time they called action for a shot, Alex (one of the crew) stood behind me and pushed play on my MP3 player and hurried to tuck it into the back of my dress, and then practically leap down off the rock to get out of the shot.

Alex, you’re amazing.

Here are some more shots from that evening’s shoot…

After we finished up the shoot that evening, we all met up later that night to go to Yucca Valley’s tiny movie theater to see “Breaking Dawn Part 2″.  Okay, so watching that movie with a bunch of film people was hilarious, I just have to say.  Justus (our producer) said wide-eyed “I’m NEVER letting you take me to another movie ever again.”  (It was his first Twilight movie experience).

The next morning was another early morning, as we had to be up at 4:30 a.m. for hair and makeup, in order to be ready to leave by 7:00 a.m. to head out into the desert again.

Hiking through the desert in flip-flops and a long black dress was not the easiest thing to do.  Fortunately I am a very outdoorsy girl and didn’t mind being out there – it was just the logistics of it all!

The crew shot Ivorie’s dance scenes first…

While Ivorie was getting her dance scenes filmed, I was being shown where my next filming location would be.  It was this rock platform at the top of this small mountain structure of rock.

“I’m going to be standing up there??” was my reaction.

Yup.

So my husband, Will, climbed to the top of it first to test it out and to find the best possible way for me to climb up it.

You need to just know something right now – I’m afraid of edges. Like CRAZY afraid.  I’m not afraid of heights, but I am afraid of edges where I can fall. If there is no rail or guard to hold me back from falling, then it just royally FREAKS. ME. OUT.

And they say that if you have a fear, you should just face your fear head on to get over it.

Whoever said that is an idiot because it does not work.

It took me a long time to climb all these huge boulders in a dress (someone else carried my violin for me).  I was in my flip-flops as well.

I finally reached the top where I was supposed to be standing to play my violin, and there were drop-offs on either side of the boulder.  It took me like ten minutes sitting there on the rock before I could muster up enough bravery to try standing on it.  Will (an experienced mountain climber) was there with me the whole time and just reminded me to breathe, and pause to get used to the heights and then climb up a little more.

Yeah, it wasn’t working so much. My heart was still pounding and I had was not feeling so great.

This was Will saying to me –  ”Smile for the camera, honey!”.  He did not get a smile.

I kept telling myself “Just do it, Jennifer – do it for the sake of the shot! It’s going to look awesome!”

I finally was able to get myself to stand up on the ledge, get my footing, and put my violin up to my chin.  And then Will hopped down off the ledge and left me there alone and it hit me, as I looked around, where I was…and WHAM I started feeling panicked and nauseous and dizzy. I felt my head starting to spin and realized if I didn’t sit back down I would probably fall right off that rock.

And that is when I realized I was not going to be able to do this, and tears started welling up out of my eyes and I started to cry a little bit.

“I’m going to ruin my makeup, gosh darnitt!” I thought.

Ryan was down below, and he was so nice and just kept telling me “It’s okay Jennifer, if you can’t do it – it’s okay.”

We eventually found a spot for me where I could lean against a boulder instead of stand. I still felt dizzy, but at least I felt secure.  This is a shot that Noelle took from below – and probably very similar to what they got on film.  I totally look like the Fiddler on the Roof – haha.

The rock that is directly out in front of me is the ledge where they wanted me to stand. It doesn’t really look that high up from this photo, but trust me – it was.

After this location, we went to another place where they had these crazy looking cacti called “Teddybear Cactus”.   Some of the crew quickly learned that if you touch it, it has these tiny little daggers that embed in your skin like a fishhook – and if you try to yank them out it pulls your skin out from the underneath layers.

Ouch.

We were removing these sharp little thorns with pliers just so we wouldn’t have to touch them with our bare fingers.  But they made for super cool shots for the film ….

I just felt bad for Ivorie, because she was dancing and twirling around these things!  At a couple times, I saw her get inches away from brushing her skin against them.

We filmed our last location at a viewpoint overlooking the valley. It was absolutely gorgeous and the guys were able to get some really great silhouette shots. We also had a little bit of a crowd up there who seemed to really enjoy watching us film (we actually had crowds in all the various locations, but the most people were at the viewpoint).

After we finished wrapping up the final shots, we all celebrated with some sparkling cidar at the viewpoint (and freezing cold!)…

All in all, it was an absolutely fantastic experience that I would do over in a heartbeat. Well, except for climbing the boulders – I probably wouldn’t do that again.  All of the people on this project were so positive, so professional, and just very talented.

Writer/Director:  Ryan K. McNeal

Catering/Assisting:  Becky McNeal

Producer:  Justus Meyer

Videographer:  Jackson Cooper Gango

Location/Assist:  Eric McCoy

Editor:  Alex Jones

Dancer:  Ivorie Jenkins

Makeup/Hair:  Noelle Jensen

Artist:  Jennifer Thomas

The video is expected to be edited and completed sometime within the first couple of weeks in December.  Please subscribe to my YouTube channel to be the first to see it when it’s finished. We will also be releasing a behind-the-scenes video once the official music video releases.

http://www.youtube.com/user/mozart623?feature=mhee

What I’ve Been Up To.

The past 6 weeks have been super busy for me.

I had a photo shoot, a music video shoot, a cd release concert, a house concert, finished a new song, and hosted company for 10 days during most of that.  That doesn’t even include the errands, the meetings, the babysitters (for my kiddos), the late nights, the lack of sleep, the stressing over whether I look good factor, and more.

Oh, and I forgot to mention that the house concert was 3 states away, which was a long roadtrip – but very fun.

I’m back in Seattle now.  I do have lots coming up still, but I feel like the super busy part is overwith.

Before I share pictures and details about the lat 6 weeks, I thought I would share some good news first.

___________________________________

GOOD NEWS

My new album, “Illumination”, has been receiving some pretty cool reviews.  Haven’t heard one negative thing yet *wipes sweat off of forehead*.

Piano Heaven in the UK selected my album as an “award winner” for their site.  Stephen Cairns wrote a really lovely review of my album – which you can read here.  “Every so often, a CD comes along that blows the listener away with its creativity and quality of music.  This is one such CD…The CD is brimming with quality from the very first track to the very last – all seventy-three minutes worth.  An outstanding album, and one which I have no hesitation giving my highest recommendation.” 

Pandora finally accepted my newest album. In case you missed that whole drama, even though my first two albums have been rotation on Pandora for several years, my newest album was rejected.  Pandora was flooded with hundreds of emails from my fans requesting that they add Illumination to their collection, but it was still refused.  However, thanks to more fan efforts and the persistence of my promotion company, Evolution, Pandora changed their minds.  As an independent artist who appreciates stations like Pandora who support my art and actually pay me for it – this was the best news all year!

This December I’ll be performing with the Evergreen Youth Philharmonic – one of the top youth orchestras on Seattle’s eastside.  We will be performing some of the work from Illumination.  I’m very excited about this opportunity!  I’ve performed with symphonies before but only in the genre of Classical music. Never before have I performed my own original work with a live orchestra.  Pinch me please.

I’ve also received some fantastic reviews from Kathy Parsons of MailyPiano.com, Michael Debbage of MainlyPiano.com,  David B Davis of Music Notes, RJ Lannan of the Zone Reporter 9who gave me 5 stars, and he rarely gives 5 stars!), and also many local Seattle newspapers.

I was also nominated (2nd year in a row) for the 2012 Hollywood Music in Media Awards for “Best Contemporary Orchestral/Instrumental”, and “Best Film Score for Short/Documentary”. The awards will be November 15th in downtown Hollywood. I’m looking forward to walking the red carpet again and seeing many of my fellow composers/performers.

Illumination also debuted #19 on the top 100 albums on The Zone (New Age Music Reporter) for July. I’m curiously waiting to see how it did for August.

And last but not least, Illumination has been receiving airplay on radio stations across the world.  My biggest radio achievements thus far is Music Choice/Soundscapes, and Hearts of Space.  I’m currently still waiting to hear about XM/Sirius Satellite.  Evolution is also trying to get some of my classical pieces on Classical FM San Francisco and Classical FM Seattle.  If you happen to live in either of these cities, it would be great if you would contact these stations and request me.

___________________________________________________________

All right! Now onto the re-cap portion of this blog post…

Moonlight Video Shoot

For the past several months, Swedish singer Viktoria Tocca and I have been working together on a collaboration.  For those who don’t know who Viktoria Tocca is, she is a very talented songstress who won my category in the HMMA’s last year for her rendition of “Dark Waltz“. She also has a heavy background in musical theater, where she played the part of Christine in Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Phantom of the Opera for 2 years straight in Denmark.  Viktoria and I met after the HMMA’s and became very good friends, and decided to collaborate together on a few projects.

As we are both classical crossover artists, we knew we wanted to do something of that nature.  One night while practicing the piano, Beethoven’s Moonlight Sonata in particular, I realized how great this piece would be.  I talked to Viktoria about it and she was on board.

So I wrote an arrangement based on themes from the Sonata (though the piano part is quite different).  Viktoria’s vocal part actually follows the original melody of the piece.  We are both so excited about this piece since this really hadn’t ever been done before (adding vocals to Moonlight Sonata). At least no version we had ever heard.  Viktoria wrote the lyrics and recorded her parts in Stockhohm, while I recorded the piano part and some of the violin parts here in Seattle.

While I normally orchestrate most all of my own music, I asked Glen Gabriel (also from Sweden) to orchestrate Moonlight.  For those of you who have heard my new album, you’ll recognize Glen from there – as he did a lot of the beats/effects and some of the additional orchestration on the album.

While we have not yet released the song, you can hear it here if you like.

We obviously also decided to film a music video for this while Viktoria would be in the US this summer…

While it is only expected of two blonde female classical crossover musicians to do some sort of flowy-dress fairy-in-the-woods type of video, we decided to do something very juxtaposed to all of that.  Director Moses Olson and cinematographer Ali Mohsenian came up with a concept that matched the dark feel of the music.  The thing that we both liked about the idea was a) It’s unexpected, and b) while you hear this classical oriented music with Viktoria’s smooth soaring voice – it just glides over the top of the action oriented video.

I have to give them props for coming up with something that would equally feature us both.  Being that Viktoria is a singer and I’m a pianist, it is difficult to show the audience that this is not just a “Viktoria Tocca” video, or a “Jennifer Thomas” video – especially with both of us being female leads and having it be an equal collaboration between both of us as artists.

I won’t give the full details of the plot, but it involves a bank heist (Viktoria is the robber), a hideout in a fancy mansion, a good looking man (who played the part of Viktoria’s boyfriend in the video), and me as a cop who ends up on the trail of her.  There is also a part of the storyline where you will see that Viktoria and I knew each other before the heist, and that comes into play as well.

We are finishing up the performance shots of me on the piano this Saturday (the 15th), and then we are hoping to have the video edited and ready for release either late October or early November.

The talented Demone Gore and Gretchen Black (seasoned actors) so kind to give me pointers on acting for the city rooftop scene.  Gretchen and I were supposed to look like we were discussing the crime, but we were actually discussing what food we were going to eat after the video shoot, and what groceries we needed.

The talented Rick Walters (actor/filmmaker), as our getaway driver….

Demone and I in the bank’s parking garage as we find clues.  This was actually a parking garage of an apartment building in downtown Seattle.

One of the getaway scenes with Viktoria and her actor-boyfriend, Chris Hynes – in the boiler room with a bag of $500,000 worth of fake money.

Those shots above are actually stills from the video, but here are some more behind the scenes pics…

Chris Hynes – the actor who played Viktoria’s boyfriend in the video.

Me wearing a faux bullet-proof jacket and trying to figure out how in the world do I wear this thigh holster-thingie??

Our beautiful hair/makeup artist, Noelle Jensen, doing Viktoria’s hair for one of her performance scenes.

Both Viktoria and I in makeup for our first scenes.  The other fabulous makeup artist is Jonelle Cornwell.

I also have some behind-the-scenes video footage, but after spending over an hour editing it into a video, my program crashed and sorry, but not starting over now. Maybe later after we film my piano performance shots for the video, I’ll finally put something together.

Photo Shoot with Viktoria Tocca & Jennifer Thomas

Viktoria thought since we were doing some collaborations together, it would be a good idea to get some photographs taken together for promotional purposes.  And, well, because let’s face it- it’s just FUN to do photo shoots and why not?

Viktoria is actually working on a new album (to be released 2013), and some of the themes/concepts for the music have to do with water (earth, water, fire, etc I guess? I don’t want to say too much).  We thought it would be really cool to do some photos actually IN the water.  Also because, originally, our concept for “Moonlight” was going to involve beach scenes (our original music video idea was that we would be sirens and would lure a poor sailor to his death in the video).

So water has always been something fun we wanted to work with. We searched a lot of google images and Pinterest boards looking for inspiration.  We eventually came across these photos that were taken from the show America’s Next Top Model…

We actually found the episode where they shot these photo shoots and watched how they did it.  It looked very cold, and very complicated to be honest! Ha!  And neither Viktoria or I wanted to destroy any of our beautiful dresses by wearing them in the water.

So we came up with an idea to wear white swim suits in the water and then drape flowy material around us to make it appear as though it were dresses flowing out.  I’m not sure they ended up looking as flowy as we had originally wanted, but nevertheless, the photos turned out beautiful.

Here is a preview of one of the photos from that shoot…

I won’t say it was easy getting into a bathing suit to be photographed, and given my usual modest attire, it took an act of bravery to do the pool shots.  However, I’m just grateful that we had classy bathing suits with material to cover us!  I’m not going to share any more of the proofs – as we’ll keep them pretty under-wraps until we need them for promo purposes.

Oh, and our fabulous photographer was Ross James – a fashion photographer from Seattle.  He did a fabulous job!

Along with the brave pool shots that we did, we also did some photographs of us in similar black dresses next to some very cool rock structures.  Here is a preview of one of those photos…

I personally think the ones of us in our black dresses will be great promo shots for our “Moonlight” song.

Illumination CD Release Concert

As well as the video and photo shoot, I also was busy preparing for my big CD release concert during all of this.

This was no small task.

It took me roughly four years to complete Illumination, and I really felt like celebrating.  While my husband would have been more content with me just doing a small piano-store sized concert, I wanted to hold it somewhere where I could use my full orchestral backup tracks and have it sound amazing.

So I ended up having the concert at the Kirkland Performance Center in Kirkland, WA.

The venue had fabulous acoustics, as well as the ability for surround sound.

Prior to the concert, as if I wasn’t already busy enough working with my projects with Viktoria, I also ended up in the ER a few times for stomach pains and eventually having surgery to have my gallbladder taken out.

It was rough after the surgery – and I was feeling very anxious about not being prepared for my big concert.  I was THIS close to cancelling the concert. I lost 2 weeks of preparation time due to having to stay in bed and recover. Practicing my piano was hard to do because I just felt weak, and my mind was very fuzzy due to just being tired and also the painkillers.

Eventually though, I started feeling better and was back to practicing. Thankfully as the next couple of weeks went by I felt like I could do the concert – with the help of some sheet music.  There was no way I had enough time to memorize all 13 of the songs for my concert. I would say I was close to having them all memorized, but not completely.

Here is me the night of my release concert on the red carpet…(photos by Kathy Boll)

My soloists with me on the red carpet – Kristen Yose, Kelley Marie Johnson, me, Viktoria Tocca, and Stephanie Yose

With my handsome husband, Will.

This is my cute (and shy) 4 year old, Preston, coming up on stage to surprise me with flowers after the concert.

And here is a little video snippet of him with the flowers. SO stinkin’ cute!!

You can also catch some of the footage from my concert on my YouTube Channel here.

Here is “Requiem For a Dream”…

I am still editing video footage from the concert, so I will continue to post more on YouTube in the coming weeks.

I have to say though, that my concert was so much fun!  I had some nervousness beforehand like I always do, but everyone there was so incredibly supportive and enthusiastic and it made it a lot easier on me as a performer.  I would do it all over again in a heartbeat for certain.

Here are a few more behind the scenes photos from the concert…

Preston in the dressing room with me – he was so excited to come to my concert

My hairdo that I paid to have done – that only lasted a whole 2 hours. I ended up taking it down right before the concert and just throwing it into a side pony.

Why yes that is my name on the marquee!

My hubby and I at the Cheesecake Factory after my concert – with Viktoria, my brother, and a few other friends as well.

  The day after my concert, Viktoria left to head back to LA for another few days, while I recovered! ha!

The following weekend, my little family and I headed down to Utah for my house concert at Michele McLaughlin’s Cozy Corner House Concert Series.  I was really excited because the show had completely sold out, and she even overbooked it. I was wondering how we were possibly going to fit all those people in her living room!

I apologize – these aren’t the best photos because they were taken from mobile phones, but here you are…

With my dear friend Dixie and her husband – after the concert. Dixie is the one whom I dedicated “After the Storm” to on my album.

With Jared and Tamara…

With Dwight Tanner, my cellist for the concert…

With singer and friend Lori Cunningham

With pianist and friend Michele McLaughlin…

Performing “Secrets” with Dwight…

And now for some goofies…

Out to eat after the concert…

You can watch the concert on YouTube here:

Along with my concert in UT, my husband also ran the Wasatch 100 mile Endurance Race. Yes 100 miles.  Here we are at the mile 53 aid station…

So anyway, now I’m back in Seattle and enjoying a nice little break from things.  That is, I do have to film my piano performance scenes for the Moonlight video this weekend, and also prepare transcriptions for an entire orchestra for the December symphony concert, and also film a music video for “Illumination”, oh and head to LA in November for the HMMA’s….but other than that….I’m just playing with my kiddos

My CD Cover Art: A Picture is Worth a Thousand Hours of Preparation.

As most of you have probably seen and heard, I have a new album out – as of today actually. Monday, July 16th, 2012 *insert happy dance*.

This album took me roughly four years to complete.  I’d like to think it’s sort of like being pregnant for 4 years and finally giving birth to this amazing baby that I can’t wait to share with the world and shout “Look what I made!! See, look – isn’t it just so grand?? You know you think so.”

Of course every mother thinks their children are the most beautiful and amazing children – and so naturally that is how I feel about this baby.

And I can make that analogy because I am a mother of two and that is a big reason why it has taken me four years to complete this album.  Things. Just. Take. Longer.  And I’m okay with that.

Let’s talk about the cover photo

If you haven’t already seen the cover for my new album Illumination, here it is…

Yes that is me standing next to a 100 year old antique player grand at the historic Paramount Theater in downtown Seattle, but I must say the real credit to this photo goes to the two guys who made it what it is:  My dad, Ron Southworth, was the photographer, and Ryan K. McNeal was the graphic artist that designed the cover.

If you’re thinking Ryan’s name sounds familiar, then no you’re not dreaming.  Ryan K McNeal wrote and directed the short film Minuet for which I composed the original score for (which won the Park City Film Music Festival Gold Medal of Excellence for Original Music in a Short Film).  He is also a talented artist, graphic artist, photographer, playwright, the list goes on and on…

And Ryan also happened to win my Cover Art Design Contest.  But before I tell you more about Ryan, let’s talk about the cover and how it was achieved.

A Picture is Worth a Thousand Hours…

With all of the people involved, I don’t think the culmination of 1,000 hours is too far-fetched.

First, the location:  How did we get so lucky to be able to shoot inside the historic Paramount Theater?

Last fall, as I was dreaming up album design concepts, I came across this Dior perfume ad:

Being the girly girl that I am, I just loved this whole concept – with the lighting, the gaudy chandeliers, Charleze’s amazing sparkly dress and the way it moved, and then the light coming in from behind her.

I wanted this. All of it. But my own version of it – of course.

But being that Dior shot this ad at Versailles, France on probably a pretty nice budget – obviously I was going to have to get a little more creative.

So I started brainstorming and looking into venues within my home town of Seattle that had rooms similar to the Dior ad. I was thinking ballrooms, big reception centers, antique homes, etc. And on top of this – it had to be somewhere that also had a grand piano (not having a piano in the picture on my first album has brought up WAY too many “So you’re a singer” comments over the years).

My first idea was the Fairmont Olympic Hotel in Seattle. I spent weeks communicating with the events coordinator – explaining what I wanted to do, what would be involved, making sure they had a piano, and getting them to be on board with cooperating with me.  It seemed like a rather perfect venue…as you can see from the photos below.

Perfect, that is until they gave me their price tag, which I could probably by myself a used car for.

Obviously my budget was much, much smaller than that.

So weeks of research and brown-nosing went to waste, and I had to start over.  I did find a few other venues, but again, the rental fees were beyond what I was able to pay for this.

And then I stumbled across the Paramount Theater.  I’d been there for a couple of different plays I’ve attended, but had forgotten how beautiful and ornate the lobby and theater were.

This last photo (above) really captured my interest because of the 9 foot grand piano to the right of the bottom of the stairs.

I contacted the Paramount, and it seemed to take a couple of months before I actually got a reply back from someone there (which is why I am always trying to think way way ahead of schedule for things).  But I was persistent, and once I finally made contact – I found their events coordinator, Debra, to be kind and easy to work with.

Eventually, I made an appointment to come down to the theater to check it out and talk with them.  So my dad and I went down and met with the Debra, and spent about an hour walking around the theater taking test shots and checking out the place.

 I thought it was simply beautiful – and so incredibly perfect for the vision I had in my mind of what I wanted my photos to look like.

I got VERY excited.

And then I got very nervous.

I already knew it would probably not be within my budget given all the research I’d done on other venues.  But it didn’t hurt to ask.

After our tour of the theater, we met up with the events coordinator to talk and the big question was asked “How much would you charge us?”.  I’m not sure if God was smiling down at me that day or if this woman was in an incredibly generous mood, but I got lucky.  Her answer was, “Well, since you are an independent artist and not some big corporation or media event, I think we could probably do this on trade. You can take your photos here, and you come perform at one of our events sometime to even it out.”

*jaw drops*

You need not ask me twice.  It was a double opportunity!

So I left the theater that day on cloud nine.  I could not stop smiling for the next few hours, or stop bouncing off of the walls.  To get an incredible venue like this on trade was just simply a miracle in my book.

So it never hurts to ask, people.  Never hurts to ask.

The Dress

My next big hurdle was figuring out what to wear for my photo shoot.  If you are anything like my husband, then you pick something out of your closet that you already own and you wear it.

But if you know me, you know I am a bit more detail-oriented than that and usually have very specific ideas in my mind of what I want. And it always involves some sort of shopping

I had originally ordered a white gown with beautiful jewels on the sleeve, but it just wasn’t fitting right on me and I wasn’t feeling comfortable in it.  So I looked around and stumbled across this photo of actress Blake Lively:

This dress was pretty far from the style I normally like, but it really struck me.  I just loved it.  So I started Googling this dress trying to find out who made it and where I could find it, or one similar to it.

I did find it from a dressmaker, but when it arrived it was unfortunately completely different than what I expected.  I was really really disappointed.

So then I did what I just should have done in the first place – which was to ask my mother-in-law to make me the dress.  She is an amazing seamstress who has sewn wedding dresses for over 20 years and I knew she was more than capable.

Lots more hours went into finding the material, the right color, and alas – the lace!  It’s embarrassing how much time I spent online searching for the right lace.  I can now say though, that I have a vast knowledge of lace and it’s different styles, types, and qualities.

The lace on the bodice of the dress I found in a teeny-tiny little sewing shop on Queen Anne Hill in downtown Seattle. It was vintage French lace ($180 per yard!) and I snatched up the very last piece of  it. The lady there warned me that I might not be able to find more lace to match since the ivory color of this vintage lace was a bit darker than typical ivory.  However, after more hours of searching, I found a seller on Etsy selling an exact match of the lace – which took almost 5 yards of it to complete all of the lace around the trim of the dress.

I was very happy with out it turned out…

Styling/Makeup

Another person who spent hours and hours helping me with this Cd cover was my dear friend, Noelle Jensen.  She is an amazing makeup artist, and also does styling.  She drove 4 hours to come help me out with my shoot – and coordinated all of my jewelry, hair, makeup, and even the poses for the photos. I honestly couldn’t have done this without her!

The Photo Shoot

Once all of these things were in place, we were ready to shoot. The entire Paramount Theater shoot took about 5 hours, and again we were just so grateful to have the time at the theater to do this. The staff was more than accomodating.

The antique player piano that we ended up choosing to use for the shoot (instead of the black 9 foot grand), was HEAVY. It took 3 to 4 people to lift it and move it just 3 inches.  I felt very fortunate to have such a beautiful piano in the photos. Apparently it is owned by a Seattle resident who has allowed it to be featured at the theater for years, but no one is ever allowed to touch it.  Except me….ha ha.

Last but not least…

The Cover Design by Ryan McNeal

This is really the amazing part about this whole process.  I don’t know that people really know what all goes into the editing of photos to create that “magic” in the final version.

Here is the original cover photo from the camera, original coloring and all.

You should know that the lighting in this photo is coming from the wall sconces, the chandeliers behind me, two soft box lights in front of me, and a spotlight behind me on the floor (my mom is actually under the piano holding it and shining it up at me).  That is why you get a faint “glow” effect around my hair, and along the piano lid, and also through the sheer sleeve of my dress.

When I gave the photo to Ryan to work on, we went through several drafts and options.

Draft 1.0 – the lighting was coming from above my head with a little lense flare.  Nice, but not a realistic approach, because it makes one wonder then where is the light behind my sleeve coming from?

Draft 2.3 (each .point something is a draft, so you can see we are already onto many many revisions) – This is where we started getting the light source more of where it should be coming from.  We wanted me to have an illuminated effect, obviously because the title of the album is Illumination, but wanted to be sure it looked like the light sources were directionally correct.

Draft 3.1 – Still tweaking the “illuminated” effect around my hair, and trying out different fonts and effects for the lettering.

Draft 6.1 – Playing around with the colorization, contrast, etc.  Also tried a lense flare (which we didn’t like and took out later), as well as the font, size, spacing of the title and where it should go.

FINAL DRAFT:  And here is the final draft, which we used for the cover (this was draft 7.1).  This is uncropped.  Now compare this to the original, and let’s see how many differences you can name…

I really love the vignette that was adding (the shading around the edges). I also love how the colorization of the photo really brings out some contrasting in my hair. I love the lighting coming through my sleeve  and up behind my head.  I think it all turned out so well.  And the font and swirls were just perfect as well.

Ryan – thank you. You spent a lot of time on this, and your hard work is so obvious. It’s beautiful.

More about Ryan…

Now if you’re wanting to know more about Ryan, I asked him some questions and he so kindly took the time to reply to them.  Here they are…

1. What is it you do?  Do you work, or go to school?
   I currently intern for the Producer’s Guild of America (PGA) and Jennifer Lopez Enterprises (JLE).  I am pursuing a career in filmmaking, and ideally I would like to write and direct feature films.  I’m also an artist and pursue oil painting, digital painting, 3D animation, photography, and graphic design.
2. What is your specialty, or what do you love to do?My specialty is storytelling.  For all of the mediums that I work in, it is my common motivation to create art pieces that communicate beyond simple images.
3. What are your goals for your future?My goal for the future is to write and direct meaningful stories that have a resounding impact on my audience.
4. What would you say is a project that you are most proud of?The project I am most proud of is actually my wedding.  I designed everything, from the wedding invitations to the table centerpieces.  Of everything that I’ve done, it turned out the most true to how I had envisioned it.  I wanted to have amazing invitations, for instance.  And so, I handcrafted the invitations, including the envelopes, designing all of the included elements myself (tickets, direction cards, etc.).  I even individually crafted the typography for every guest’s name on the outer envelope.  I am big into presentation, and the invitation would be the first thing our guests would see – it would set the tone for what kind of wedding my wife and I were having.
5. Top 5 things on your bucket list?The top 5 things on my bucket list are:  travel through Asia, direct an award-winning feature film, write a novel, build a sailboat, and own a top-end Apple computer.
6. If you could meet anyone, who would it be and why?If I could meet anyone, I would want to meet J.K. Rowling.  Jo Rowling’s books, for me, have been a keystone in my life. They came to me at a time when I had no one and became my closest companion. I read them regularly and often relive the halls of Hogwarts in my mind’s eye with Pensieve-like clarity. Thanks to Rowling, I have walked those halls, I have been down the third-floor corridor, won the triwizard cup, and even had courage in the face of pure evil.  (Before he died, I would have also loved to meet Steve Jobs, who became an inspiration to me while I was in college).
7. Favorite dessert?My favorite dessert is apple dumplings.Ryan’s Bio

   Biography

   Ryan’s childhood was spent in many different places until he graduated from Evansville High School (Evansville, WI) in 2008.  He then attended Columbia College Chicago (Chicago, IL) to pursue a BA in Film and Video, which he received in 2012.  His passion for art is what led him to film, which he believes to be a combination of elements from nearly every other art form.  Ryan pursues every art he can find time for, and is highly interested in using his artistic skills to create and enhance compelling stories.

   Ryan is available for hire. Due to his busy schedule, he may be unavailable for hire at certain times. If you are interested in hiring Ryan, contact him.

Illumination Photo Shoot – Behind the Scenes Video

“Illumination” Prize Drawing and Sneak Peeks of Music