Jessica Pollack, Founder, Creative Director

 

Jessica is a native of Brevard County who believes foremost in the magic of music to tell a story. She is confident that the key to connecting an audience to that story is creating, not just great music, but a complete concert experience using everything from programming to venue to program notes to other artistic media. She loves collaborating with composers, other instrumentalists, and artists of all backgrounds to make new concert experiences and to learn about art from different perspectives.

Her past projects have been focused on collaboration and story-telling, and include teaming with actress Rachel Geistfeld to present John Steinmetz’s Odiepundle VI for clarinet and friend, and Tom Johnsohn’s Bedtime Stories as well as working with contemporary composers. She has enjoyed premiering works by new composers such as Alex Cooke, Craig Davis Pinson, and Daniel Harrison at fresh inc. festival. She premiered reImagined by Andy Normann which was written for her recital in October and is working with Chelsea Komschlies to adapt her folk-inspired violin solo, Fear A Bhata, for clarinet. Most recently she teamed with ME Theater to present Fear A Bhata for dancer and dancing clarinet.

 

Jessica is now excited about bringing all her experiences back to her hometown as founder and leader of the new Chamber Music with Friends. Her goal is to support the community’s existing artists and arts organizations and to work with them to create new collaborations and works for the community. Jessica is a board member and clarinetist with Central Florida Winds as well as docent at the Foosaner Art Museum. She has performed with the Space Coast Symphony Orchestra and Wind Symphony, Melbourne Community Orchestra, Holy Name of Jesus Players, and other local organizations. She loves working with high school students through Chamber Music with Friends, private lessons, or teaching at schools.

 

Jessica graduated Northwestern University cum laude in 2013, where she earned a Bachelor of Music in clarinet performance under Steve Cohen, Lawrie Bloom, and Leslie Grimm, as well as a Bachelor of Arts in psychology. She studied chamber music at IES Vienna and the University of Vienna under Stefan Neubauer of the Vienna State Opera House where she fell in love with the power of multi-media opera productions to tell a story. She has enjoyed spending her summers with artist colleagues at Banff Centre for the Arts, Aspen Music Festival, fresh inc., Brevard Music Center, Eastern Music Festival, Musicalta, and Interlochen.