Howdy! My name is Jess, and I am a music educator, performer, and composer!

My interest in music was inspired by my older sister well before I chose my first instrument. Following in her footsteps, I started taking dance classes when I was around five years old. As I grew, I came to enjoy attending her concerts and marching band competitions because I loved getting to hear her perform. I was so inspired by my sis that I even wanted to play the same instrument as her, and made her give me mini flute lessons before I was old enough to officially play an instrument myself!

As it would turn out, I didn't play the same instrument as my sister—or at least not right away. Instead, I was given the clarinet to officially play in the school band. I've been playing the clarinet since I was nine years old, and have been playing variations of it (such as the bass clarinet) since middle school.

When I reached high school, I expanded my musical horizons as much as I could. I took piano, guitar, and music theory classes; I started teaching myself how to play the ukulele; and I spent a lot of my free time figuring out my favorite songs by ear. It became a goal of mine to learn any woodwind instrument I could get my hands on, starting with the saxophone so that I could play in my school's Jazz Band. I participated in Chorus, Marching Band, Pep Band, Pit Band, Concert Band, and Wind Ensemble. I also started my school's first Clarinet Choir.

Despite how much of my life I devoted to music, I didn't know I wanted to do anything with it professionally until I saw my Middle School Band Director performing with his ska band at a Harrisburg Senators baseball game! It was then that I realized I could perform and teach, and that I wanted to do both just like him. I went on to intern with this director my senior year of high school, and I still make it out to see his band perform multiple times each year.

I earned a bachelor's degree in music education from West Chester University of Pennsylvania. This degree taught me not only about music theory and history, but also all of the various band/orchestra instruments and the best practices for instructing students on how to play them. During my time at WCUPA, I performed in the Incomparable Golden Rams Marching Band, Clarinet Choir, Concert Band, Wind Symphony, Wind Ensemble, and Women's Chorus. I also joined the professional fraternity Sigma Alpha Iota, which opened doors for performance and volunteer experiences I would not have had otherwise, such as helping with the Philadelphia Orchestra's Sound Safari. During my summers, I came back home to teach private lessons and volunteer with my alma mater's Marching Band as a Woodwind Tech.

After graduation, I worked as a long-term substitute Elementary Band Director for a little under a year, which was great preparation for what would follow—I held the position of Elementary Band Director for the Northern York County School District for six years. During that time, I led hundreds of fourth- and fifth-grade students through their beginning journey in playing a musical instrument. We worked with various method books and concert pieces, and I also arranged and composed music for my students to play. I taught in-person, online, and even while I and my students were wearing masks. My classes were open to all students in fourth and fifth grade, so I taught students with a wide range of social, cognitive, motor, and musical skills. While I was their teacher, several of my students participated in festivals and competitions, such as the PMEA Youth Honors Band and the York Symphony Orchestra's Song Writing Contest, and many more of them continued to higher-level festivals when they moved on to middle and high school. As a director, I also did my best to connect with the parents and families of my students, especially if I knew this was their first experience in the wild world of playing an instrument.

Despite being the Elementary Band Director, I also had a presence in my district's upper grades as a teacher and a performer as well. During the summers, I continued a program for lessons for elementary and middle school students so that those who were able to participate would be able to better maintain their skills over the break. I was officially hired as a Woodwind Tech for our Marching Band for four years. There were multiple years where I also performed in the Pit Band for the high school musical. Playing in pits is one of my favorite ways to perform, so if there was a year that I wasn't needed for our district's musical, I was able to find gigs for other districts instead!