Teaches in Southern California

From Carlsbad, California

Plays Piano, Saxophone, and Voice

About

Music was the theme growing up in Kansas for Jackie where she was fortunate to have loving parents who believed in her enough to encourage her talents and get her started at an early age. She began piano lessons at age four and also was prompted to sing ‘Mr. Sandman” on stage at that age. At fourteen she was the organist for the First Christian Church in Cimarron, Kansas where her mother played piano and her father and brother sang in the choir. Jackie graduated from the University of Kansas, Lawrence with a degree in Music Education with graduate hours in Music Therapy after taking an Internship at the KU Medical Center in Kansas City.
After college Jackie was recruited to join a start-up music group of eight in Los Angeles, California. ‘The Rising Generation’ rehearsed 24/7 for a month after which point their manager sent them on a USO Show to break in their act. After touring Japan, Korea, Okinawa, Gaum and the Philippines they returned stateside to three years of non-stop engagements mostly on Reno-Tahoe-Vegas circuit performing lounge shows and also appearing as opening act for several headliners. She finished her professional singing career with a year contract at Disneyland singing on the Tomorrowland stage with ‘The Better Half’.
Ready for a new challenge, Jackie took on admin positions in the L.A. entertainment industry. She held subsequent positions in Concert/Rock Department for Creative Management Artists (International Famous at the time). She worked at Motown/International, Embassy Pictures, and with Dann Moss, Esq. in Entertainment Law. Further enhancing her career, she was hired by Raintree Productions where she was mentored into production managing for television and movies. She represented Raintree’s Directors to ad agencies and wound-up free-lancing with other production houses in L.A., notably Coast Productions. Moving to Chicago with Coast, she met and married her husband, John DeMichele, her life partner through 39 years of marriage at which point she actively pursued her chosen field, music education. She’s held teaching positions with Berwyn Junior High, and Sacred Heart Elementary in Illinois; Bergen Elementary School and Dakota Ridge High School (Rehearsal Pianist) in Colorado; and at La Costa Heights Elementary School in Carlsbad, California.
Jackie told us “I feel blessed for having had the life experiences I’ve had. Rewarding and all encompassing, I’ve had the fortune to work with top executives and educators in all my endeavors. I deeply appreciate my teaching experiences and will be eternally grateful for the encouragement, guidance and training I’ve had through it all.”