After earning her Master’s degree in viola performance from the University of Minnesota in 2013, Jessica Jasper has lived in her home state of Washington. Since then, she has enjoyed being a freelance violist and violinist, chamber musician and music educator. She has been a tenured violist in the Spokane Symphony Orchestra since 2012, and a tenured violist with the Northwest Sinfonietta chamber orchestra since 2013. She also recently won the position of Assistant Principal viola of Yakima Symphony orchestra. She is also passionate about her role as a music educator, teaching private viola/violin lessons, and also coaching orchestra in local schools. She was awarded a position for the 2024-2025 academic year as a Washington State Wolf Trap Teaching Artist. This is a program brand new to the Spokane area, in which she will be collaborating with preschool teachers to create unique lessons that incorporate the performing arts in their classrooms.
Jessica loves traveling, and her musical career has taken her around the globe– In the summer of 2010 she studied abroad in Vienna, Austria and performed solo recitals as part of the Ronald E. McNair Scholars program. In the fall of 2014, she traveled to Gumi, South Korea and played as part of the Gumi International Music Festival. The past few summers, she has had the pleasure of rafting through the Grand Canyon, performing string quartets in natural amphitheaters along the Colorado River.
Jessica is a huge outdoor enthusiast, and in her free time, tries to spend as many hours in nature as possible. She can’t get enough hiking, biking, backpacking, yoga, paddleboarding, and any other type of movement that feels good in the moment.
During the pandemic, Jessica attended Therapeutic Connections School of Massage on the south hill, and now owns and runs her own massage therapy practice. She has always loved helping people, and wanted to learn a completely new and different skill to complement her music career. Inspired by her former dog, Marty, Blue Healer Massage came to be!