a b o u t
Jessica is a versatile and instinctive artist who plays in all kinds of genres with ease and energy. A native of Grand Forks, North Dakota, she is now an active freelancer and teacher in the Bay Area. Jessica graduated in 2023 from the San Francisco Conservatory of Music with her master’s degree in music performance, where she studied with Professor Simon James. Before moving to San Francisco, she got her bachelor’s degree at St. Olaf College, where she studied with Dr. Francesca Anderegg.
As a freelancer, Jessica enjoys a wide array of performance opportunities, ranging from recording sessions for a Cartoon Network movie to playing for weddings at the San Francisco City Hall. She performs frequently with several orchestras around the area, including the California Symphony, Vallejo Symphony, Stockton Symphony, Monterey Symphony, and Rogue Valley Symphony, and has recently won a one-year position with the Boise Philharmonic. Jessica is a contracted artist with several event coordinators in the area, and is an experienced contractor as well, as a former employee for the Hire SFCM Musicians program at SFCM.
Jessica is an avid chamber music musician, and she is a member of several active groups in the Bay Area, with which she has performed around the Bay Area and beyond for concert series including Music on the Hill, Old First Concerts, and Kronos Festival, collaborated with SFJAZZ artists, recorded for 3232 Music productions, and been guest artists at the All-City Orchestra Festival in Grand Forks. Jessica has attended many music festivals with a focus on chamber music such as the National Symphony Orchestra Summer Music Institute, Green Mountain Chamber Music Festival, Brevard Music Center, and the Credo Summer Music Institute, where she was a fellow for the 2022 session.
Jessica has had the opportunity to work with mentors including David Chan, Nathan Cole, Rachel Barton Pine, and Paul Kantor. As a soloist, Jessica has performed with the Red River High School Orchestra in 2023 at the Golden Gate Park Bandshell, and with the St. Olaf Orchestra as a winner of the 2021 Senior Soloists Competition.
A certified Suzuki teacher, Jessica maintains an expanding private violin studio both in-person and online, and teaches at several studios and schools in San Francisco and the Bay Area, including Sacred Heart Cathedral Preparatory and Scherzo Music School. She has also spent seven summers coaching young string players at the Dal Segno chamber music camp in Grand Forks, ND.
In her free time, Jessica enjoys singing, going on hikes, baking, and trying to expand her violin genres by playing fiddle and jazz music.
