Today we’d like to introduce you to Jared.
Thanks for sharing your story with us Jared. So, let’s start at the beginning and we can move on from there.
Well, to begin, I was born and raised right here in Los Angeles! It’s actually very funny to me because I had no idea that I would be doing what I do today. If six-year-old me stuck with what he wanted to do, then I’d probably be in Space drinking moon juice… I’ve always had the arts in my blood, but I never thought that I would be making it my career. I did a couple of school plays when I was younger, but I also tried a lot of other things too like Martial Arts, or what’s the word…Sports? Yeah, that sounds right. I enjoyed them, but they weren’t quite sticking to me. However, as almost every actor does, I did have that moment when I actually wanted to learn how to perform, and for me, it was when I saw the Broadway National Tour of “The Lion King” at The Pantages. I remember being in awe the entire time, and walking out saying “I want to do that!” Maybe it was the puppets, maybe the Disney magic helped, but regardless, I fell in love with the stage at that point.
That desire was more or less on simmer for years, because high school was when I really dove into the arts. I was in choir throughout high school, I joined an all-male acapella group, I took Drama classes, I joined the Speech and Debate team, I auditioned for the school musicals. In everything, I took my acting training more seriously. I got bit by the bug. I loved every single bit of performing and I wanted to do it in any way I could so when I went to College of the Canyons I became a Graphic Design major!
…what? Not where you thought this story was going? As much as I loved performing in music and acting, I was scared to make it a career so I picked something that I thought was interesting to me and went from there. I quickly learned that this was NOT the journey for me and I did a lot of re-evaluating. I went back to music because it was always there for me. I joined the college choir and got my AA degree in Vocal Performance.
Some people may not enjoy choir, but there is something very beautiful about a body of people coming together to create music. I thought maybe I could teach choir! It had been a big part of my life so I thought for sure this was the direction for me. After applying and auditioning to different transfer schools for Music Education and not getting in, I was a bit lost. But, with the help of my mentors, we made California State University of Northridge my home and continued on with Vocal Performance. Very quickly I learned “Oh! THIS is what I am supposed to be doing!” because everything else made sense. I got my BM degree in Vocal Performance and now I’m a professional performer and teacher and haven’t looked back since.
We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
I’m not sure any artist can say it’s an easy road. Don’t get me wrong, there have been a lot of great wins along the way! I’ve been blessed to have played a lot of great roles I never thought I would do and work at a lot of great theaters that I am lucky to call home.
But, there is no easy way to get there. I’ve had to work hard and be patient with myself. I can’t tell you how many auditions I’ve walked out of, even in this past year alone, thinking “I completely bombed that one” or even worse, “I feel really good about this one”, and still not booking the job. But, I believe it’s not all about the wins, it’s about the loses as well. I don’t believe anything easy is worth fighting for. I know a lot of my performer friends know this feeling of self-doubt. The first thing we do as performers after a loss is we beat ourselves up. We think “What did I do wrong?” or “Maybe I wasn’t good enough” when the truth is there are a million things that go into casting. As artists, we are vulnerable people. We put our whole selves out there to be seen by the world and we feel defeated when we don’t get that callback or when we don’t book that job. But we keep going anyway because we love what we do! We continue our training and we continue to learn and grow as performers. I tell all of my students, as a lot of artists have told me, “this is not an easy path!” and it’s not.
However, this is what makes us unique performers in our own way. We take these “defeats” and turn them into wins. These losses are what make me a better artist, simply because I love it.
There have been a few other bumps along the way as well and not just in the performing world: for example, another big aspect of why I perform is my mom.
I lost my mother back in 2006 and would not be the artist and performer I am today without her. She taught me to be selfless and to put others first, to be kind and work hard in everything that I do. She’s the one that got me into loving what I do and loving every moment I get to perform. It has made me a much more vulnerable artist and if I can show my true self in my craft, I know I’ve done my job and have made her proud.
We’d love to hear more about your work and what you are currently focused on. What else should we know?
Being a “freelance” teacher, I get to do my craft at a few different places. Back in 2016, when I was first becoming a vocal instructor, I was doing a show with a close friend of mine and the performing arts studio that he worked at was looking for another Vocal Coach to bring on. I quickly joined the team and a year later, we all helped create what is now known as Born To Perform Studio, where we train the next generation of performers. We offer acting, singing, and dancing classes, workshops, intensives, camps, and other masterclasses that focus on how to become the “Triple Threat” musical theatre performer. We always teach that to bring the performer out you must start from the inside and continue to grow and learn as an artist and love the process while doing so.
This is what I’ve carried on throughout all my teaching aspects, which has led me to be able to teach and coach at other places including Knauer Pianos and the YMCA. Knauer Pianos is first and foremost a piano store, but they offer all types of music classes and they brought me on as a private vocal instructor there. The YMCA has been another gift to me.
In the past few years of working with them, I’ve helped create a new curriculum and offer new classes like “Vocal and Audition Technique”. I’ve also been honored to have opportunities to stage direct and music direct a few of the musical theatre productions there.
Even as I teach privately, no matter where I go or who I teach, I focus on bringing the artist out from within. I hear stories of voice teachers just doing the same lesson for all their students to get them to sound like everyone else….this just shouldn’t be! Everybody has their own unique voice because you’re, well, you! Truth be told, that’s the best part about finding out who you are as an artist and what you bring to the table.
What were you like growing up?
I was actually a pretty energetic kid, which is why the performing life suits me well. HA. Growing up in class, I was literally the class clown. I would not stop talking and was always getting in trouble. It’s funny because around 6th grade that changed and I was such a quiet kid in school after that. However, not quiet enough because I found my love for performing very quickly. Around the age of 14, I started a rock band! Actually, several bands, but I’m only going to talk about the first one.
My sister played the guitar and sang and our cousin played the drums and I was like “well what can I do?” so they shoved a bass guitar in my hands and said, “play it and sing!” Let me tell you…I was no Justin Bieber because my singing was atrocious…just awful. I definitely did not know what I was doing so I wanted to get training. The rest, as they say, is history.
Contact Info:
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Address: Born To Perform Studio
705 Lakefield Rd, Suite B
Westlake Village, CA 91361
Knauer Pianos
19301 Ventura Blvd.
Tarzana, CA 91356
North Valley YMCA
11336 Corbin Ave.
Northridge, CA 91326 - Email: jaredpriceactor@gmail.com
- Instagram: iwenttojareds
Image Credit:
Austin Brown Photography
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