My Music Journey...so far!

Hey everybody!

I’ve been meaning to write this again, especially for all my newer students. There’s not always a lot of time during lessons for me to talk about myself and my own experiences, so I thought this would be a good place to share a little bit about my own personal music journey so far!

I was born in Seoul, South Korea and my family moved to Fort Campbell, KY after about a year or so. I grew up in Clarksville, TN and because my dad was in the Army, we moved to Marquette, MI for a few years when I was around 8 years old. This was when I first started piano lessons with Mrs. Adams, and soon after I started voice lessons with Mr. Jeff Bruning at NMSU (Northern Michigan State University). I loved taking lessons with these amazing teachers and after 3 years, my family moved back to Clarksville, TN where I resumed piano and voice lessons with various teachers in private homes and APSU (Austin Peay State University).

During middle and high school years, I played regularly at the local First Korean Presbyterian Church my family attended, leading morning worship services with the praise band (along with my 2 older brothers who played drums and guitar), playing piano for the choir, and also accompanying concerts and other special services. I learned a lot about playing in sync with others and how to “listen to the room” from this experience.

In college, I went on to major in Music Performance with an emphasis in Voice. I learned so much from my 4 years at Cumberland University and had some really amazing professors to shape and guide me. We even had the opportunity to spend 2 weeks in Italy touring and singing in cathedrals with the university choir!

Right before graduating, in 2011, I moved to East Nashville, TN and started playing and singing in the local music circuit while teaching private music lessons through a local company. I started auditioning for anything and everything I could, and found local choirs, performance opportunities, and recording gigs whenever I could! (see resume and collaborations for details)

I met my partner, Jared, in late 2014 and we started dating about 6 months later. He’s an amazing guitarist and singer and one of the kindest people I’ve ever met. And we both love traveling! As Nashville continued to grow and change, after much deliberation and sight-seeing, we decided Richmond, VA would be our new home in 2018.

We packed up our van, rented a small trailer last minute and set off on April 1st, 2018 like a couple of fools! I was so scared of the unknown, looking back, but we were quickly embraced by the community here and have genuinely been calling Richmond home ever since. I started up my own private music lesson business in 2019 called “Jenny Thomas Music” and changed the name later to “Open Hearts Music” in 2021. I came out as non-binary/genderqueer during those years, so the name change was also a personal matter for me. I now like for people to refer to me as JD, and want the focus to remain on the music, not the teacher.

I personally manage every aspect of the business, from this blog post you’re reading, to the reminder emails coming to your inbox every week or so. You could call me a workaholic, but I really do love this job and want to give back in the same way all my teachers gave to me. I would not be here today without their constant efforts to keep music alive, and my parents’ support to expose me to such great opportunities.

I try my best to never take the time I have for granted. I am well aware of the responsibility I hold as a teacher in the community, and I do my best to always uphold the highest levels of respect and appreciation for the pursuit of knowledge and growth of peoples’ well-being and happiness, and that includes music. I am always learning, growing, changing, and adapting myself and have just as much to learn from each student and each new experience! I hope to continue my education in the field of counseling/life-coaching and perhaps expand my business one day to offer an inclusive life-coaching option.

Thank you all so much for reading my story! It means a lot to me and I hope you all have a better idea of where I come from and where I am going, as well! As always, please reach out if you have any questions at all and I look forward to hearing from you!

Sincerely,

JD Thomas