Mary-Jess Leaverland
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Mary-Jess Leaverland, or simply Mary-Jess, is an English singer and songwriter who won ''Min Xing Chang Fan Tian'' (or in English: ''I Want to Sing to the Stars''), the Chinese version of
The X Factor ''The X Factor'' is a television music competition franchise created by British producer Simon Cowell and his company Syco Entertainment. It originated in the United Kingdom, where it was devised as a replacement for '' Pop Idol'' (2001–2003 ...
, which was televised to 70 million people in December 2009.


Early years

Mary-Jess Leaverland was born on 28 March 1990 in
Gloucester Gloucester ( ) is a cathedral city and the county town of Gloucestershire in the South West of England. Gloucester lies on the River Severn, between the Cotswolds to the east and the Forest of Dean to the west, east of Monmouth and east ...
, England, and grew up in a musical household. Her mother Liz and her grandmother were both singers. When Jess was nine years old, her grandmother got her an audition with the Gloucester Cathedral Youth Choir, mainly for the experience, but she was surprised to be accepted even though she was two years too young. Mary-Jess went on to study Music and Chinese at the
University of Sheffield , mottoeng = To discover the causes of things , established = – University of SheffieldPredecessor institutions: – Sheffield Medical School – Firth College – Sheffield Technical School – University College of Sheffield , type = Pu ...
and in her second year went for a year's placement in
Nanjing Nanjing (; , Mandarin pronunciation: ), alternately romanized as Nanking, is the capital of Jiangsu province of the People's Republic of China. It is a sub-provincial city, a megacity, and the second largest city in the East China region. T ...
, China, where she decided to enter a live televised singing competition. After achieving success from the singing competition, Mary-Jess left university after receiving a record deal to pursue her singing career.


Career


Breakthrough (2010-2011)

Mary-Jess advanced through ''Min Xing Chang Fan Tian'' (or in English: ''I Want to Sing to the Stars'') all the way to the final, where she won the grand prize after competing live on Chinese television every night for three weeks. After winning the contest however, Jess still remained virtually unknown in the UK. The show was not broadcast outside
Jiangsu Jiangsu (; ; pinyin: Jiāngsū, alternatively romanized as Kiangsu or Chiangsu) is an eastern coastal province of the People's Republic of China. It is one of the leading provinces in finance, education, technology, and tourism, with its ca ...
Province, China, so her family and friends could not watch it and her family could not afford to fly to China to watch her. When an interview she gave to a local
Gloucester Gloucester ( ) is a cathedral city and the county town of Gloucestershire in the South West of England. Gloucester lies on the River Severn, between the Cotswolds to the east and the Forest of Dean to the west, east of Monmouth and east ...
paper was picked up by the national press, the news spread, and Leaverland was offered several recording contracts and she signed a recording contract with Decca Records. She was signed to Decca from March 2010 to November 2011. Mary-Jess stated in an interview with ''
The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...
'' that "I was awful at French but Chinese caught my attention with all the different tones. Each word had its own tune." The Music and Chinese Studies course at the University of Sheffield took Leaverland to
Nanjing Nanjing (; , Mandarin pronunciation: ), alternately romanized as Nanking, is the capital of Jiangsu province of the People's Republic of China. It is a sub-provincial city, a megacity, and the second largest city in the East China region. T ...
, and when she by chance came across auditions for the talent competition she wanted to get involved. "I really thought they would want a Chinese person to win. I couldn't believe it when it was me." Her debut album '' Shine'' was released on 8 August 2011 and peaked at no. 57 on the
UK Albums Chart The Official Albums Chart is a list of albums ranked by physical and digital sales and (from March 2015) audio streaming in the United Kingdom. It was published for the first time on 22 July 1956 and is compiled every week by the Official Charts ...
. Before release she went on a 23-date UK tour with tenor Russell Watson as his special guest. She was chosen to contribute to the ''Downton Abbey'' soundtrack, lending vocals to the song "Did I Make the Most of Loving You?". In December 2011, she appeared as a soloist on the
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...
'' Songs of Praise'' broadcast from All Saints' Church, Cheltenham, and again on Easter Sunday, in April 2012. Her song "Stand as One" was used as a background theme for P&G – Proud Sponsor of Mums TV advert in 2012. Mary-Jess was selected to sing the
FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual knockout football competition in men's domestic English football. First played during the 1871–72 season, it is the oldest national football competi ...
Christian hymn " Abide with Me" before the
2012 FA Cup Final The 2012 FA Cup Final was a football match between Chelsea and Liverpool on 5 May 2012. It was the final match of the 2011–12 FA Cup, the 131st season of the world's oldest football knockout competition, the FA Cup. Chelsea were participatin ...
association football match between
Chelsea Chelsea or Chelsey may refer to: Places Australia * Chelsea, Victoria Canada * Chelsea, Nova Scotia * Chelsea, Quebec United Kingdom * Chelsea, London, an area of London, bounded to the south by the River Thames ** Chelsea (UK Parliament consti ...
and
Liverpool Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a populat ...
. In 2013, she appeared at the Cheltenham Music Festival.


2015

In 2015, Mary-Jess was invited to No. 10 Downing Street and was asked to serve as a representative of the British Council's GREAT Britain Campaign to represent British music worldwide.


2016

In 2016, she conducted a short teaching tour of Suzhou, Lanzhou and
Hangzhou Hangzhou ( or , ; , , Standard Mandarin pronunciation: ), also romanized as Hangchow, is the capital and most populous city of Zhejiang, China. It is located in the northwestern part of the province, sitting at the head of Hangzhou Bay, whic ...
, China with the British Council as part of The GREAT Britain Campaign. Later that year she released her second album 'Prayer to a Snowflake', a winter/Christmas album which features duets with Jaden Cornelious and Rhydian. She then embarked on a UK tour to celebrate the release. Mary-Jess also released her winter album ‘Prayer to a Snowflake’ in November 2016 to critical acclaim.


2017

In March 2017 Mary-Jess toured with G4 as their special guest and was asked to return for the September leg. She then followed that with her own tour and campaign.


2018

Her second album ‘Inspire’, was released in April 2018.


2019

In 2019, Mary-Jess sang in the new year with Katherine Jenkins, Aled Jones, Shane Filan, and many other special guests for BBC Songs of Praise’s ‘The Big Sing’ from the Royal Albert Hall to a viewing audience of two million people. In addition to singing and touring, Mary-Jess gives inspirational talks and presentations about the importance of learning languages and how learning Chinese changed her life forever. She also gives singing work shops and masterclasses, working with young singers and choirs to develop their voice.


Discography


Albums


Singles


Charity work

Mary-Jess is a member of the Royal British Legion Gloucester City Branch, patron of The Door Youth Project, and she is an ambassador for Half the Sky, a charity that helps orphaned and abandoned children in China.


Personal life

Mary-Jess Leaverland is married to Rich Parker, a professional vert rollerblader.


References


External links

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Mary Jess Leaverland Sings "Glorious" (CNY 2014) from YouTube
{{DEFAULTSORT:Leaverland, Mary-Jess 1990 births Alumni of the University of Sheffield Decca Records artists Opera crossover singers English women pop singers English songwriters Living people Musicians from Gloucestershire People educated at St Peter's High School, Gloucester People from Gloucester Singing talent show winners 21st-century English women singers 21st-century English singers