Profile of Jackie Ward
Dell Lawrence
Assistant editor, Fine Arts Series
Cooranbong, New South Wales, Australia
A singer and songwriter at Avondale College of Higher Education has a lot for which to be thankful.
Jackie Ward received the Alan and Yvonne Thrift Perpetual Shield for Musical Excellence Prize this past year. Credit: Kent Marcus.
Jackie Ward, a third-year Bachelor of Arts (Music) student, began her musical journey by mostly teaching herself to play the piano. She then began to sing but took it seriously only about 10 years ago. She has now recorded a number of albums.
Choosing which songs to include on the albums may not have been easy—Jackie has written more than 400, and they are of high quality, as three consecutive top-10 placings in the Australian Songwriting Contest shows. Jackie won the contest in 2008, with nine of her songs shortlisted for the top 10 in different categories. The win led to a nomination in the open-age Australian Songwriter of the Year. Two more of Jackie’s songs were shortlisted for the award this past year.
“I draw my inspiration from my life experience, the experience of others, the Bible and my relationship with God and His creation,” she says. Her songs are mostly about faith, love “and a little bit of comfort and heartache.”
Jackie is a member of The Promise, joining the Avondale vocal ensemble as a second soprano in August 2009. “I saw first soprano Sherae Wilson as a mentor,” she says. “We became ‘singing buddies.’” With Sherae graduating this past year, Jackie now has the responsibility of singing first soprano. “I know the change will be different, but I can still wear my own ‘shoes.’”
In recognition of academic and performance excellence and of leadership, Jackie received the Alan and Yvonne Thrift Perpetual Shield for Musical Excellence Prize this past year. She admits she has not “always been dedicated to study,” but that has changed since coming at Avondale.
Psalter Music, a ministry of Adventist Media Network, has now recognised Jackie’s talent. Plans are to record and release an album this year.
Jackie acknowledges the role her relationship with God plays in all this. “It’s not just my efforts,” she says, “I couldn’t do what I do without Him.”