Brandon Twp.- When Jordan Park took to the stage to perform at the Grand Ole Opry with 359 other choir students on Oct. 29, she was in good company? the singers comprised the top 1.8 percent of high school choir students in the nation.
‘It was amazing how down to earth it was,? she said. ‘Just amazing, it went so fast.?
The Brandon High School senior’s journey to the famous country music attraction in Nashville may have begun when she was a toddler who played harmonica and sang along to the Blue’s Clues children’s television series.
‘I’ve always been shy about singing, I never wanted anyone to hear me,? she recalls.
But after joining the Glee Club in third grade, and then participating regularly in school choirs, the contralto competed in solo ensemble in the Michigan School Vocal Music Association (MSVMA) Festival and earned a first division rating. She then attended Blue Lakes Fine Arts Camp her freshman year and was invited to travel to Europe in a Blue Lakes program the summer before her sophomore year to sing as part of a choir in cathedrals in Belgium, France, and a very memorable German one.
‘The cathedral had a 12-second echo in it, we were in the entrance and there was gold and teal marble and the ceiling was completely painted into a giant image of angels singing and Biblical stories? it was breathtaking,? she recalls. ‘It was right next to a big church that had survived the Holocaust and was tarnished and black.?
Parker returned home and kept singing. Last year, she did a solo again at the MSVMA festival and had a life-changing moment.
‘The judge looked me right in the eye and said, ‘Your voice is something rare? you are a genuine contralto and that is rare to come upon,?? she remembered. ‘That got me a placement in the state solo ensemble, with another division one rating. That’s when I got really strong motivation? because one of the hardestjudges in the place thought I was that special.?
She and BHS Choir Director Debbie Sebetic began seeking further opportunities, and soon Parker was in the MSVMA Honors Choir, competing at regionals, then state, then named to the all-state choir.
With that taste of success, she reached even higher? filming an audition and sending her application to be in the National Association for Music Education (NAfME) All-National Choir to perform in Nashville. Parker waited all summer for the results before receiving a letter in August notifying her she had been accepted. She was sent music to practice, then had three days of rehearsal with the choir in Nashville before they performed at the Grand Ole Opry. In the audience was Sebetic, as well as Parker’s mother and sister.
The choir sang ‘Nyon Nyon,? as well as ‘Ave Maria,? ‘The Circle Be Unbroken,? and ‘Where Your Bare Foot Walks.? In all, they sang six numbers, with songs ‘all over the map,? Parker said.
In her free time, she sings what she likes and likes what she sings, including songs from Twenty One Pilots and Paramour.
On Halloween, just two days after performing in Nashville, Parker learned she had been selected to sing at Carnegie Hall in New York City in February as part of the High School Honors Performing Series.
In the future, she hopes to become a high school vocal teacher and give other students the same opportunities she has been given.
‘Dr. Sebetic has always given me pep talks after I made accomplishments and said that I have a gift and this happened for a reason and I will push through because I didn’t come this far by accident,? said Parker. ‘She believes with her heart and soul this is supposed to hapopen. I couldn’t appreciate her more for that.?
Jordan Parker is the daughter of Kelli Parker of Brandon Township and Norm Parker of Clarkston.