We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Jordan Jones. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Jordan below.
Alright, Jordan thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. The first dollar you earn is always exciting – it’s like the start of a new chapter and so we’d love to hear about the first time you sold or generated revenue from your creative work?
My first time monetizing performing was completely accidental. I joined a children’s choir in Saint Louis and they asked me to audition for this mysterious new opera at Opera Theatre of Saint Louis. At this point I was like 10 and was a good singer but didn’t know much about opera or classical music. The same night of my audition my mom, because I didn’t have a phone, got a call that I booked that show. It was Champion by Terence Blanchard where I played the younger version of the main character. It was an insane opportunity that even now over a decade later I still can’t wrap my head around. I got to work with some truly amazing performers who I still look up to today.
Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.
My name is Jordan Jones and I’m an opera singer and content creator. I began singing when I was 8. Had my first child super role in Wozzeck when I was 9, and worked at Opera Theatre of Saint Louis for the first time at 11. Before high school, my family decided to move to Houston, Texas where I attended the High School for the Performing and Visual Arts. In 2020, I got accepted to USC to continue studying opera. And in 2022 I got to sing in the LA Opera Chorus for their production of Omar. Now, I’ve actually moved across the country and now attend the Manhattan School of Music to get my Master’s Degree in Voice.
We’d love to hear the story of how you built up your social media audience?
It’s a pretty funny story actually. I always loved having an aesthetic instagram and had a couple semi viral Tiktoks in 2020 and 2021. One random day I posted a video of my roommate on my TikTok to a JT song and it got over 2 million views. Then everyone wanted more roommate content because he’s a big straight guy and I’m…not. It was a really fun year and I got to work with brands like UNIQLO, Pentel, Dr. Dennis Gross and even more. Everyone kept telling me to post more singing content but I never really wanted to do that. I think my advice for people wanting to create content is to be authentic and have fun doing it. People online can tell when you aren’t enjoying something or if you’re creating content for the sole purpose of going viral. You never know what the internet will enjoy so just try to find your pocket of each platform and post things that you not only enjoy making but also enjoy watching.
What can society do to ensure an environment that’s helpful to artists and creatives?
I think the best thing society can do is to learn as much about the arts before forming preconceived notions about art forms or artists. There’s so much to be learned about every artistic style and being a patron or viewer doesn’t make you a master of said thing. Keep an open mind and step out of your comfort zone. Go to an opera, go to a museum, go to Shakespeare in the Park. And please don’t say Beyoncé can’t sing if you can’t hold a tune. It takes a lot to get to the level of mastery that artists, especially artists of color, female artists and queer artists, so often have to achieve to even get in the door of a record label, art gallery, young artist program audition. I think we should all introduce ourselves to as much art as we can. And support local artists and small companies as well. The Met Opera may have the biggest budget but there may be a better show at a hole in the wall in Brooklyn.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jordanjonesofc/
