Jayde Contreras (17) was gifted with a passion for music since she was a little girl. Contreras said, “I’ve been into music since I was very little.” Her mom was finishing school when she was pregnant with Contreras. Contreras said, “When she spent hours in the practice rooms playing or singing, consequently, since I wasn’t born yet, I did too.” Her mother, Christina Contreras, remembers those college days fondly but said, “It was very difficult finishing college being pregnant. I don’t recommend it.” Jayde has had musical blood running through her veins since she was a small girl. Christina said, “I’d have to say the first inclination was when she was 2 years old. Her favorite movie was “The Wizard of Oz” ,which I thought was weird, those monkeys are scary, but every time Dorothy sang ‘Somewhere Over the Rainbow’, little Jayde sang along and matched pitch perfectly. At a very early age she started harmonizing and her sense of rhythm has always been exceptional.”

She got into percussion in 5th grade when her parents bought her Rockband on the Wii for Christmas. Contreras said, “I was pretty good at the drums so I figured I’d join band in middle school and see what I could do. Now I’m the section leader of the percussion section in both Marching Band and Concert Band, and I’m also in a Jazz Band come second semester.”

Since she started her music career at Eaton High School she has had two teachers leading her. Her mother and choir teacher, Christina Contreras and band teacher, Logan Doddridge have guided her through the past few years. They had nothing but praise for the rising star. Christina Contreras said, “I’ve been her choir teacher for a few years now. All the auditions she’s done, she never asks for my help.  She wants to pave her own way, which I admire and respect.” Since she is also involved in band Doddridge had a lot to say about Jayde’s ability to help others and guide the group. Leadership is another attribute that Jayde has brought to the table. Doddridge said, “It is awesome. Jayde has always stood out as a leader since her freshman year.” This year Jayde has begun to share her passion with other students. He said, “She stepped up to train five new people in the marching band. Doddridge said, “She sets the standard for excellence. No matter what she is the best, but is always humble about it.” He said she is good at relating to younger students and motivating them in everything they do. Through everything she does she is a very patient person Doddridge said and If she has fifteen minutes to spare she will spend it helping someone else he said.

Later on she began writing her own music the summer before she started 8th grade. Christina Contreras said, “Jayde is a very independent young lady, all the music she’s written has been completely on her own.” Jayde Contreras said, “My first song was on guitar, called ‘Birds of the Air,’. She said she loves being able to share her struggles with other people, telling how Jesus helped her through them, and hopefully helping someone else out that is having the same issues. “It’s pretty flippin’ cool when a random person messages me or sees me at the grocery store and tells me how much my song blessed them or helped them through whatever they were going through.”   

Recently Contreras has been writing more and more. “My favorite song [right now] would probably be the latest one I wrote called ‘Broken Heart.’  I kinda just put myself out there, put every emotion, feeling, and thought out for the whole world to hear, but I think that’s why so many people liked it–because of the raw emotion and passion that came out.” Music is not just apart of her school life, it  follows her everywhere. Christina Contreras said, “We do play music together at church, and when we’re cleaning the house, there’s some pretty interesting singing and dancing happening around our house.”

A career in music is possibly in Contreras’ future. Contreras said, “I would love to. But I have no idea what exactly I’ll be doing in music.” She would love to perform her original songs professionally but, she also loves to play percussion. “There’s really so many different ways you can go with music, I just have to pray that God leads me to the career I’ll do best at.”