There are certain stereotypes that come with being a soprano, especially those performing classical music, performing in posh venues, and wearing ball gowns. However, when it comes to classical crossover the listener must expect the unexpected and a perfect example of one such performer is Mary-Jess.

“My training was going to karaoke with mum and singing the rock and the pop songs of karaoke,” she tells us. Mary-Jess learned about how to deal with different audiences and also “versatility within the voice.”

She gained her love of classical music from her grandmother and described it as, “My only way to rebel… because my mum was already doing all of the tattoos and the motorbike, riding and singing all the rock stuff.”

Mary-Jess is candid about the difficulties she experienced growing up with her single mother supporting the family, “I had such marvelous examples set for me, especially by my mum, in this regard, because we didn’t have any money to do anything with. If anything needed doing around the house. She’d have to learn how to do it. So she learned plastering bricklaying, carpentry, and anything that needed doing, mum would have to learn how to do it… She never said this to me but I learned through her actions, that nothing is impossible.”

Her mother also encouraged Mary-Jess to take advantage of any opportunity that came her way. “She’d say, ‘Jessie, go for it. Just go for it, you never know what’s going to happen, take that opportunity.'”

Another early lesson that has stuck with Mary-Jess came from her grandmother. “Make sure you always have more than one string to your bow.”

These lessons would eventually lead to the biggest moment of her career. In searching for her “second string” Mary-Jess tried a number of different things including electronics, and French but she was met with a lot of doubt from her peers and even professors. One teacher, in particular, refused to allow her to study Spanish stating, “I don’t think you’re capable.”

It was a devastating blow for the then-teenage Mary-Jess but she used it as further fuel for her ambitions. “I was aware that if I wanted to break out of what everybody assumed my life would be, I had to make the most of every single opportunity. And it didn’t even matter what it was. ”

Mandarin Chinese was later offered as an extracurricular GCSE and she determined to study and master it. ” I got the top grade in that exam. So I showed him,” what’s more she the language itself resonated deeply with her, “I have completely fallen in love with. I absolutely love it.”

Later she received the chance to study in China and did so. While there she entered the Chinese version of the X-Factor and won the whole thing. The result was so unexpected that when the English newspapers began to pick up the story, multiple record labels became interested in signing her.

“I was lucky at the time to have two major labels that wanted to sign me,” Mary-Jess told me. “So I had Decca giving me contracts as well as Sony. And that meant that my music lawyer was able to sort of pitch them against each other to create a contract that was more flexible for me… I was able to negotiate a great deal of creative control.”

Unlike many artists who record from the Universal “standard” classical and crossover repertoire, Mary-Jess was able to create an original album, “Shine.” Looking back now, she’s not sure if going the more traditional route would have been easier for the label to promote by using their traditional channels but says she is proud of the record they created. “I’ve still got so many great stories and memories from Shine. Decca did give me the most incredible start to my career that I’m really grateful for. And the memories I’ve got like recording in Abbey Road. We recorded the strings from the Royal Philharmonic in Abbey Road for the album and to hear the songs that I’d written come to life in such an iconic place was I can’t even describe that feeling.”

Eventually, Decca released Mary-Jess from her contract which of course was agonizing for her. Now she can look and be self-deprecating saying, “That was a good six months of sulking in my pajamas, feeling sorry for myself,” but there’s no denying the incredible blow it would be for any artist. She remembers thinking, “that my dream career that I dreamed of since I was a child was over at the age of 21… it took a long time for me to pick myself up and feel like I was able to start being creative again.”

But being the tenacious woman she is, Mary-Jess did pick herself up again and released an independent Christmas offering, “Prayer to a Snowflake.” This time she included some traditional carols along with her original compositions. “As the first one as an independent artist, it was the steepest learning curve, but once again, so proud of that album.”

Her next release “Inspire” was a special project intended to promote young talent. “I wanted to elevate these young musicians because I feel that their voices are so beautiful. They just deserve the world to hear them.”

Mary-Jess also has given many masterclasses and is a Patron of the Door Youth Project. She teaches them the lessons that brought her success, “language learning, having more than one string to your bow, making the most of every opportunity, how to make it in the music industry, how to be an independent artist” and more. She hopes to be the voice of support that she missed from educators hoping to help, “inspire the next generation so that they can have the voice that I didn’t have from a teacher so that they can have a voice that goes, you can do it, you can actually do anything if you set your mind to it because nothing is impossible. You just don’t know how to do it yet. And so I love being able to talk to young people and change their minds about a few things. Because when we’re growing up, we see our family, we see our peers, we see the barriers that they’ve got, and normally it’s barriers that they’ve put on themselves. So as soon as you start asking questions that make them realize, ‘Oh, hang on a minute, this isn’t actually impossible for me. I just think it is but actually, it isn’t.’ It’s challenging their own thinking. And that’s when you really get those lightbulb moments that are so fantastic to see you like see a switch flick in their head. And that realization like the smile come across their face where you go, ‘Oh, hang on a minute. Maybe my dreams are actually possible for me.'”

Through the pandemic keeping the hope in a music career alive was difficult for many performers but Mary-Jess challenged herself to learn more about marketing and creating new ways to connect with her supporters. She even created her own ‘Mary-Jess Club’ which she calls “My absolute favorite place in the whole of the internet.”

Mary-Jess has been open in describing the costs artists face saying, “It’s just that level of transparency that gains understanding. And I feel like that’s very important, especially when it comes to people’s money.” She spent time researching the right platform and settled on Ko-Fi feeling it offered the most value to her supporters. ” I just couldn’t do it without my club now. I really couldn’t. There’s absolutely no way. And so I appreciate these people in ways that I can’t even articulate because they are so loving, they are so supportive, and they are there for me and whatever I do, and the fact that I’m able to bring them along on every single journey with me is amazing.”

If you’d like to access exclusive mixes, concerts and the latest news from Mary-Jess join her club now! 

Watch my interview with Mary-Jess on Connections premiering Sunday, February 27th at 4 PM EST. Please don’t forget to hit that subscribe button and ring the bell to be notified when our new content goes live.

www.mary-jess.com

Natasha Barbieri, Editor

Editor

Creator of Classical Crossover Magazine. For Natasha music has always been closely tied to her faith. At age 18, Natasha made her opera debut playing the part of the mother in Menotti’s ‘Amahl and the Night Visitors’ with the Eastern Festival Opera. At 20, she was a winner of the 2011 Young Artist Competition at Andrews University. Natasha graduated in 2012 with a Bachelor’s of Music. Natasha has released a series of Holiday singles “A Place Called Home” (2020), “One Little Boy,” and “The Perfect Year” (2021). In 2021, she was nominated for the ‘Future Classic Women Awards’ show on Men’s & Women’s Radio Station. Natasha is the creator and editor of ‘Classical Crossover Magazine’ a venture that has allowed her to interview many of the top stars in the genre including Sarah Brightman, Celtic Woman, Mirusia, Paul Potts, and more. During the covid-19 pandemic, she created an online concert series for the magazine that has seen her perform in the same line-up as Alex Sharpe, Lucy Kay, Barbara Padilla, Classical Reflection, and more on the virtual stage. In 2022, Natasha was included on the charity album “Stars of Classical Crossover: Christmas” in benefit of the Wallace & Gromit Children’s Charity.