The classical star and volleyball standout: two sisters with playing power, staying power

For a few intense moments during a recent performance and lecture on campus, classical pianist Jade Simmons literally moved her audience to tears.

Simmons will bring her formidable mix of spirit and technical mastery to a concert at 8 p.m. Saturday at Mandel Hall with the University Symphony Orchestra. She'll also bring her younger sister Isis Smalls, a UChicago second-year and women's volleyball standout who made the University Athletic Association all-conference first team. For years, the sisters have lent each other vital support in their very different yet demanding ambitions.

Her recent recital at Fulton Recital Hall gave a sense of how Simmons, 32, has found success as an African-American performer in a classical field with few minorities. When she invited audience members to suggest emotions that she could match with passages of classical music, Denise Taylor spoke up to request a theme of grief and loss. Taylor, a stay-at-home mom, lost her twin brother Dennis to cancer last year.

And so, Simmons sat at the Steinway grand and eased into the third movement of Samuel Barber's piano sonata. Frantic staccato notes pounded as if pacing up and down a tight, twisting staircase. All resolved into a deep C bass note, pierced by shards of dissonant upper-register notes squirming in an angry triad.

Taylor sat in her seat, transfixed, sobbing gently after all of 45 seconds. "It was beautiful," she said afterwards. "I felt it. And at the end, it did give a little peace to me."

Saturday's performance will cap a weeklong Center for the Study of Race, Politics and Culture artist-in-residence stint for Simmons, who also spent time here working with local schools and giving a master class on campus.

Ask Simmons where she gets her powerful blend of technique and emotional depth, and she'll tell you the two feed each other. After completing undergraduate studies at Northwestern University, she received her masters in Piano Performance from Rice University's prestigious Shepherd School of Music, under the tutelage of concert pianist Jon Kimura Parker. Still, her drive traces back to a love of the instrument that began with her first lessons at age 8. "The thought of going more than a few days without playing a piano gives me a shiver," Simmons said. "It's part of my mission. It's who I am."

Simmons stands apart as an artist of elegant complexity, even paradox. She can wield demanding Mozart arpeggios one minute, then shove someone's car keys into the Steinway strings the next to share an experimental piece of horror-flick atonality. She's all about breaking barriers that keep diverse audiences-and players-from entering deeply into classical music.

She's also a former Miss Illinois and a 2000 Miss America runner-up, and has worked to improve arts education in the Houston public schools and prevent youth suicide.

And yet, she can get cheeky and competitive when the subject turns to her little sister, who remains undecided on a concentration, though she's leaning toward a business-related degree. (Although the two originally hail from Charleston, S.C., they now live in Houston.) "She calls me in the middle of the day: 'Oh, I don't know what I'm going to major in!'" said Simmons, laughing. "Does she ever ask if I'm in the middle of something? No."

"She's always saying she's faster than me, taller than me," responded Smalls, 19. Then the spike: "But I like to think I'm inspiring her."

Touch'e, and true. Though Smalls admits to trying piano but not getting far, Simmons for her own part never took her volleyball aspirations to the level Smalls has hit. As an outside hitter, Smalls helped lead the 2009 Maroons women's volleyball team to a 28-13 season, its best in 13 years; the team finished third in the UAA. "We're not ranked nationally-yet," Smalls said.

If there's a touch of brio in her voice, believe her: Smalls was the first Maroon in 13 years to make all-conference first team. She also recorded 419 kills, making her only the fourth woman in school history to notch those kinds of single-season stats.

More than 12 years separate Simmons, 32, from her only sibling-which might make you think Smalls considers her more a second mom. Yet the two stick close; before big games, Simmons texts Smalls inspirations and encouragements. Smalls has kept them all, dating back to her high school days.

"It's been a blessing to have her as a sister because I can relate to her on a sisterly level, but she's also like a cool aunt," Smalls said. What's more, watching Simmons accomplish so much has fueled Smalls' own dreams, which include opening an international franchise of gyms. She also hopes to work for changes in national nutrition policy that will make organic and healthy foods more accessible to poorer families.

For her own part, Simmons can hardly believe that the little girl who once ruined a prize Beethoven score by turning it into a makeshift coloring book has blossomed into an undergrad standout.

"When I was a teenager, she was more like a baby doll, a plaything," Simmons said. "Now, I get to live vicariously through her with the volleyball."

Quick Facts About Jade Simmons

  1. Simmons is a self-described "child of the '90s" with a deep love of hip-hop and rap. This in part explains why Beethoven is her favorite composer: "He has this great use of bass."
  2. Simmons cites statistics that show less than 4 percent of all orchestra members in America are minorities. A big reason? "Minority kids don't have the same access to private lessons. And you can't get to the next level without private lessons."
  3. Simmons lists her biggest non-musical influence as the NBA great Michael Jordan. "He had this combination of hard work and passion. If he had the flu or you were to amputate his leg, he would still say, 'We are not going to lose this game.'"
  4. After Simmons started winning beauty contest crowns, Smalls said she did what any little sister still in school might do: "I brought her in for show-and-tell."

By Lou Carlozo