Having already paid for voice lessons that her younger sister did not meet the age requirement to attend, eight-year-old Jaquish’s parents persuaded her to take her sister’s place in the choir at Colorful Universe.

“I wouldn’t say I have a naturally-gifted voice,” Jaquish said. “After I discovered that I loved singing, I started wanting to train harder and noticed that I was rapidly improving.”

Jaquish finds her greatest motivation to be from her private vocal coach of two years, Eugene Brancoveanu. He always encourages Jaquish to step out of her comfort zone. 

“He really believes in his students and pushes us to what we think our limits are,” Jaquish said. “Then he pushes us to find out that that’s not actually our limit.”

Jaquish’s passion for singing largely stems from her emotional connection to songs. 

“When I listen to songs, I get deep into them — sometimes they make me cry,” Jaquish said. “I love that feeling, and I want to be able to do that for other people too.”

Jaquish recalls her Carnegie Hall performance as her greatest achievement where she won second place in American Protégé International Vocal Competition 2022’s musical theater category and traveled to New York to perform in April 2022.

From battling insecurities to stage fright, pursuing singing requires surpassing numerous mental blocks, which has nurtured Jaquish’s strong mentality. 

“Every singer makes mistakes while performing,” Jaquish said. “And of course you panic, but you just have to keep going. Learning to be comfortable doing this has helped me deal with many other similar situations in life.”