SEQUIM — One of Pandora’s top artists will bring her dynamic music to her hometown next week.
Jennifer Thomas, a classical crossover pianist and composer, moved to Sequim four years ago and said she’s excited to play here.
“It is a big deal,” she said. “I’m excited to finally perform here.”
Tickets are $30. They are on sale at jennifer thomas.eventbrite.com for 7 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 22, at the Dungeness Schoolhouse, 657 Towne Road.
Thomas’ local show is the second-to-last performance of “The Fire Within Summer 2019 Tour” spanning major cities like Denver, Las Vegas and Salt Lake City. She ends with Sequim and Seattle on Aug. 24.
It’s her first major tour, Thomas said.
The Sequim show spans two hours and 18 songs along with a unique video-audio performance.
Thomas said it’s taken her six months to deliver her “epic sound” live.
“The biggest feedback I’ve had is that people were expecting just a piano recital but had no idea it was a full production,” she said.
In recent years, Thomas has become one of the biggest classical crossover artists online with some of her accomplishments including more than 1 million streams per week on Pandora and her newest album “The Fire Within” debuting at No. 3 on the Billboard Classical and No. 2 on Classical Crossover charts.
She’s also seen her music blowing up overseas with one of the best figure skaters in the world, Rika Kihira, using Thomas’ song “A Beautiful Storm” during one of her skating routines.
Despite the accolades, Thomas said she keeps a low profile in town and most people here don’t know what she does for a living.
“I stay pretty quiet here,” Thomas said.
“At the gym the other day, someone asked me where I had been, and I told them on tour. People just don’t know me here for my music. Here, I’m just my normal self. People are surprised to find out what I do.”
Doing a tour wasn’t possible when her boys — now 11, 8 and 5 — were younger, she said. For the tour, they helped with her merchandise table to earn some spending money at Disneyland.
At most, Thomas performs five concerts a year.
“It’s huge for me to do a 20-city tour,” she said. “It’s been me really putting myself out there, and for my genre, it’s orchestral and electronic and not an easy type of music to perform.”
For the tour, Thomas said she’s purposefully chosen intimate venues with about 100 seats, similar to the Dungeness Schoolhouse.
Prior to touring, she prepared herself by playing up to seven hours a day. Many of the venues had Yamaha pianos available, too, as she’s sponsored by them. Thomas tested the Schoolhouse’s vintage piano, and said it sounds great for the upcoming show.
Following the tour, she plans to take a break but will make more music videos after the Christmas season.
Find Thomas’ music on music streaming platforms like Pandora and Spotify or visit jenniferthomasmusic.com.
