Italian Heart Strings is a show starring Michelle Jaeger Jones, a lifelong resident of the South Bay.
I have picked iconic Italian songs for an evening of singing and dancing to well-known Italian songs. The songs will be sung in various vocal styles and tempos to be interesting to the audience. This will take place at the Warner Grand Theatre, September 25th at 7:00 p.m. on 6th Street and Pacific in San Pedro.
I created an evening of loving, romantic tunes with well-known iconic tunes to express the Italian culture and differing regions in Italy. In fact, there will be visuals slides that correspond to the different regions around Italy and songs that will be sung. It will be like a mini tour of Italy’s most well-known cities.
This has been a challenging project to put together. First, it should include a couple songs from Italian Opera. I am not an opera singer. I had attempted to sing an aria before but realized how challenging they are for a singer. I knew, Aaron Blake, a tenor, and a resident RPV who was singing for the Metropolitan Opera and approached him for help. Having never taken voice lessons from a male teacher before, I was curious if he could help me learn to sing an aria for the female voice, (no worries there). I was aware of his tremendous vocal technique and his beautiful voice which convinced me to dive in and learn as much as I could from this star of the tenor voice. We set up voice lessons on a random basis. Aaron was traveling to Europe to sing as well as on the East Coast, so his schedule and my budget came into play.
Aaron has turned out to be a wonderful support for me. I recently heard several of his students sing in Les Misérables, and was so impressed by their vocal techniques, that it reinforced my conviction of him as my teacher and mentor. I have been learning so much from Aaron. He has primarily been the person to encouraged me to go through with performing “Italian Hearts Strings” at the Warner Grand Theatre and now it will be a reality. Aaron and I will be singing several duets. Aaron will also be singing, the tenor song, Nessum Dorma to delight the audience.
I also love to include dancing in my performances and began taking dance lessons with Eduard Sargysan, who is a Russian trained ballet dancer, as well as a theatrical dancer, just for this purpose. I thought it would add interest to a stage show. Eduard will be my dance partner in Italian Heart Strings, as well as delight you with a solo dance to “Ciao Bella”. His dancing is beautiful and inspiring, so much so that he has starred in ballet companies in Israel and Armenia.
But what would this show be without musical support from a great band, enter Ambassador Wole Oni. Ambassador Wole Oni is a musical genius. He is a pianist extraordinaire of the electronic keyboard. I do not use that word lightly. His music will enchant you and I am honored to have him as my music director and pianist. Ambassador Wole Oni is one person you will be able to listen to on Instagram.
I am so happy to be performing for you on Saturday, September 25th at 7:00 p.m. or my debut of Italian Heart Stings. Please invite your friends and family to this joyous event. Remember to come early for the red-carpet event at 6:30 p.m. before the show starts. See you there! Go to italianheartstrings.com for tickets or the Warner Grand Theatre. If you have questions, you can call 310-701-1129 for more information.
Michelle Jaeger Jones grew up in Palos Verdes Estates and attended all her schooling on "the Hill". Michelle is continuing to pursue her singing and dancing in her one woman shows and enjoys outdoor activities. She is currently a property manager in Torrance. She can be reached via email at: michllesliveandreconrdedshows@gmail.com
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