From training to become a classical pianist to working with Grammy-nominated producer Ill Factor, Tisch sophomore Jackie Paladino has quite a distinguished musical career. She balances her musical theater major and acting gigs with her songwriting, recording sessions and performances. While currently signed to NYU’s West 4th Music Group, the singer-songwriter has much to offer her avid listeners in the near future.   

Paladino’s musical career began at four years old when her parents signed her up for piano classes. She ended up being the only one of her siblings who kept practicing, continuing with the instrument through high school and college. Eventually, Paladino also took up singing.

“I got serious with singing when I was in high school when I paid for my own lessons,” Paladino said. “When I got to college, the transition was hard for me especially since I struggled with a lot of body image issues and writing songs was the way that I went about dealing with it, coping and healing.”

Songwriting is Paladino’s way of opening up to her audiences and letting them know her true self — she believes it gives a piece of herself to them in order to create a bond during her performances. She loves the idea of her music not only being therapeutic for her, but also for her audiences.

Although she is currently in Tisch’s musical theater program, Paladino began her academic career at NYU as a classical piano major. Once she realized that singing and songwriting should be her focus, she decided to transition to a program that better suited her needs.

“For me, performing music is a lot like when I’m acting,” Paladino said. “I feel like I’m more honest on stage than I am in real life. You give your heart to the audience, and I love that vulnerability and the idea of being able to share your true and innermost self.”

Paladino finds that performing pop songs is most fun, but disagrees with the idea that they mean anything less than her singer-songwriter songs. She believes that music feels good in general and even the upbeat, fun pop songs have some sort of an uplifting message. Even if people just want to jam out or relax to something, it is important for that music to exist. This is one of the factors that played into her gateway into pop music.

“I worked with producer Ill Factor about two years ago,” Paladino said. “Working with him was my first step in trying to be a commercial artist and helped me realize that I could expand my horizons past the singer-songwriter genre and more into pop music.”

Since Ill Factor has worked with huge pop artists such as Jessie J and Christina Aguilera, the experience introduced Paladino to the commercial music industry, particularly in the pop genre. She was able to explore songwriting in this area and it has allowed her to really grow as both a songwriter and performer.

Although she already has many musical performances under her belt, Paladino is just as impressive as an actress. Before coming to NYU, she played a principal role in “Spring Awakening” when it was off Broadway. She hopes to eventually be a commercial actress and work in the film and television industry.

Email Dyanna Fleites-Cruz at [email protected].