Daily Inspiration: Meet Tracie Jones

Today we’d like to introduce you to Tracie Jones. 

Hi Tracie, so excited to have you with us today. What can you tell us about your story?
At age 2, I started playing the piano. That’s where my passion for music began. From there, I started training in classical piano up until I was 14 years old. My piano teacher decided she could not teach me anymore because she said the only way I could continue to grow individually was to learn to teach. This is when I started my own career in teaching music. By my freshman year of high school, I could play just over 30 musical instruments. I followed music in high school and college as well, where I majored in vocal performance. In 2007, after continuing to teach privately and accompanying for various opportunities throughout college, I started working for multiple dance and music studios where I started various music programs. In 2011, I decided to open my own music and performing arts studio, Counterpoint Entertainment Studio. After 3 years I was approached by Actors Youth Theatre to collaborate in education. This is where I continued to teach my students and became the Director of Education. Soon after, I was approached and was asked to become the Co-Artistic Director. During this time, I was diagnosed with  Pseudotumor Cerebri (PTC) and became blind. Despite the difficulties of losing my vision, I worked as hard as I could to re-learn and re-prioritize. Teaching music has always been my calling and I was determined to continue doing as much as I could for my students. Then in February of 2018, I was approached by the founders of AYT with an offer to become the Executive Artistic Director. This was absolutely terrifying if I’m being completely honest! Despite my fear, I pushed through. I am so grateful for all of the the students I was able to help provide opportunities for. This experience taught me that we are capable of far more than we think we are. During the pandemic, I stepped back as Executive Artistic Director in order to attend a school for the blind, which I had put off for a few years. My passion has always been to help those that love music and performing arts, hoping to one day have a career in it. I was able to use this time to show students with that passion how to work toward that goal. Currently, I am running CounterPoint doing just that. There is no greater reward than helping students achieve their dreams and reach their goals.

Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not, what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
Smooth? DEFINITELY NOT!  After having my tonsils removed and experiencing severe pneumonia, I noticed some irregularities in my singing. Once I went back to my ENT, I was informed that due to coughing I had early stages of vocal nodules, and was put on ten weeks of vocal rest. I continued to teach piano privately, and eventually voice lessons once I recovered. At this time, multiple students of mine were spread out under different companies, which was very difficult to manage time wise. Being as passionate as I was to teach, I found myself overextended trying to find a home to teach all of my students.  After a lot of encouragement from students and friends, I embarked on a very crazy adventure called Counterpoint. I opened up a business front a commercial space in November of 2011, where I would continue to teach my students and grow and build a training program. However, our studio was located next to a cigar shop, which brought on multiple issues. For the health and safety of our students and staff, I decided to leave that space and collaborate with Actors Youth Theatre. As I worked with AYT and taught my students, I was not prepared for the next obstacle in my life. While I spent most of my time focusing on helping others develop their music and artistry, I definitely neglected myself in many ways. Some health issues began to surface. I experienced severe headaches that I chalked up to being stressed, overworked or tired. Enter, Pseudotumor cerebri (PTC). As I previously stated, I lost the majority of my sight due to this condition. This brought me into a whole new chapter in my life. Even though the majority of my sight is gone I still continued to work, which put a pause button on blind school. There are only so many hours in a day and when you are relearning all new processes, you have to pick and choose your battles. However, it did allow me to focus on personal growth. I am currently attending blind school, finishing orientation and mobility training, and working with different tech to navigate this new way of life. Despite the challenges I have faced, it  has not stopped me from doing what I love. I am still providing knowledge, experience, and opportunities for my students that I’ve gained over the years. That means everything to me and I am grateful to be able to do what I love each and every day.

Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
Counterpoint focuses on creating and providing opportunities with Seasoned Industry Professionals who love to encourage, mentor, and train performers. They teach them what it takes technically, emotionally, and mentally for a career in the Performing Arts Industry. We do this through learning vocal production numbers in various musical genres (pop, rock, music theater, country, etc.) and dance styles (jazz, tap, ballet, etc.). Students work to improve and refine their vocals not only as a soloists, but also as a group. They work on understanding harmonies, balance and blend as well as overall performance techniques. Students also get experience and training in acting (stage and on-camera), vocal recording, resumes/headshots. preparing monologues, etc. Whatever their goals are, we work endlessly to help achieve them.

I am the most proud of my students. For pushing past their fears and challenging themselves to go after their dreams. Being able to be a part of each of their journeys has been a blessing. While helping them gain the courage to do hard things, it has encouraged me to hard things, and realize that we are capable of far more than we think. I am personable and never provide a one size fits all structured path for every student. Everyone is different and deserves their own method of teaching based on their personalities, talents, passions, and dreams. After being fortunate enough to have taught thousands of students over the years, I’ve gained knowledge in finding different ways to truly communicate and guide them along the way. I absolutely have the Best. Job. Ever!

Can you tell us more about what you were like growing up?
Growing up I was obsessed with music and the performing arts. I was your typical musical kid who took dance including jazz, tap, ballet, hip hop, and also did quite a bit of country dancing. Being a kid in Gallup, New Mexico, I rode horses and bikes, and if I wasn’t playing/singing something, I was usually outside. I was heavily inspired by Virginia Suddeth, also known as Aunt Ginny. She always encouraged me to do what I loved. She is an inspiration for me currently, as she too had lost the majority of her sight. Aunt Ginny was always positive, hardworking, and gracious which has helped inspire me on my own path.

As a child, all I talked about was growing up was my dream to have a career in music and/or be a nurse. I am so very grateful to be living it today. Helping others to create music and develop their own talents is a dream come true!

Contact Info:

• Email: tracie@counterpointmusicarts.com
• Website: Counterpointmusicarts.com
• Instagram: @Counterpoint24
• Facebook: Counterpoint Entertainment Studio