She describes the audience for choral music as “sturdy,” but has some tough love for the opera scene. Jones also hopes she can bring a new perspective to the world of classical music. Because a blind person looks like everybody else.” It confirms and perpetuates the stereotype of how we’re supposed to look - sunglasses, poking around with a white cane. “You don’t know how much damage that does to the blind community. “They asked me to portray a stereotype and I said ‘no,’” Jones says. While she was perfectly OK accepting a background role in the Netflix film “Bird Box,” where vision impairment is a main part of the plot, there was one acting role she turned down on principle. Righting this kind of wrong has guided her as a performer. “People don’t believe us when we say we’re blind because we don’t ‘look’ blind,” she says. Even after she assured him that she was blind, he skeptically told her she didn’t look blind. That is why it was so discouraging when an employee at a grocery store told her she couldn’t bring Dwayne inside. “You were standing just where those two cars hit each other.”
“Your dog just saved your life,” she says a pedestrian told her. She was close enough to the collision to feel the rush of wind caused by the crash. In her first month with Dwayne, he moved her out of the way of a runaway vehicle that smashed into a nearby car. In the past, Jones has depended on Dwayne, a trusty yellow Labrador guide dog, to keep her out of danger.
Blind opera singer how to#
Based on her experiences, she finds many sighted people still don’t understand how to behave when encountering someone who is visually impaired. Photo by Helen Arase.Īnd she feels people could benefit from hearing her perspective. Cristina Jones wants to inspire more blind people to seek out creative endeavors. (Yes, there’s a Braille system for musical notation, so she doesn’t always have to learn it by ear.) She hopes that performing more regularly will make her a sort of ambassador promoting awareness of the blind community. singing operatic works from the likes of Verdi, Mozart and Puccini. In addition to cabaret shows, she’s performed all over Southern California and in the U.K. Jones is first and foremost a soprano - and a powerful one at that. I had to trust that I know how to sing and move right and I won’t go flopping off the stage.” “But everyone has insecurity doing their craft. “Before my surgery, I had relied on my light onstage, so afterward I wasn’t sure I could trust myself,” she says. Then four years ago, her condition worsened and she required surgery to have her eyes removed. For years, Jones’ quality of vision would fluctuate from day-to-day. Hailing from Anaheim, Jones was born with retinopathy of prematurity, an eye condition that eventually leads to blindness in roughly 50,000 people worldwide. In an attempt to make the world a less awkward place for the blind, Jones, aka The Blind Soprano, has been using her talents as an opera singer, performer and teacher to raise awareness of the community.
Even when I’m the one singing it at a funeral.” “I try real hard not to laugh,” she says. Her favorite though is “Amazing Grace.” In her mind, whenever she hears that song she changes the lyrics to “T’was blind but still can’t see.”
Last updated: SeptemThe multi-hyphenate entertainer aims to be an ambassador for her community while defying stereotypes.įor a recent cabaret performance at Feinstein’s at Vitello’s in Studio City, Cristina Jones put together a cheeky medley of songs: “I Can See Clearly Now,” “I Only Have Eyes for You,” “Jeepers Creepers.” Even the theme song from “Full House” - “Everywhere You Look” - made the list.
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