"Passionate, Patient, Precise..."
About
Film: In The Twilight (ISABELLE); One Winter Night (DETECTIVE SCHAEFER) Off-Off Broadway: Second Hand Gifts (ALLISON). Regional: American Theater Group's World Premiere of Small Town Story: A New Musical (MARGIE); Spring Awakening (ILSE) and Chess (ENSEMBLE). Concert/Live Performance: The Songs of Small Town Story: A Musical about a Musical that Rocked a Community, Feinstein's/54 Below, NYC; A Little Bit of Bobby, Green Room 42, NYC; Welcome To My Life (KENNEDY) Numerous print & commercial credits, including Beachbody, Northwell Health, MassMutual & American Express. A North Carolina native, Jessi is a graduate of the University of North Carolina at Charlotte with a B.M. in Vocal Performance, as well as a Musical Theatre graduate of New York Film Academy.
Jessi’s students’ professional credits include Broadway’s Harry Potter and the Cursed Child (Young Harry); Caroline or Change (Noah); Mrs. Doubtfire (Natalie); Flying Over Sunset (Archie) Moulin Rogue (Ensemble); Off Broadway’s Trevor (Trevor) Match Girl (The Little Match Girl) BAM’s workshop of Medea (Edward) Tour: Frozen (Young Anna and Young Elsa); Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (Charlie) Christmas Story (Tap Ensemble) and West Side Story Tokyo (Shark). Jessi’s students of all ages can be seen in numerous regional theatre productions; feature films, network productions, and major streaming services including ABC, NBC, Hulu, Netflix, Disney Plus, Disney Channel, Nickelodeon, Apple TV, Comedy Central, Amazon Prime, FX & many more.
Jessi believes in helping actors find freedom in their work by first and foremost being themselves in their acting. Jessi guides students through activating the imagination, trusting yourself in your work, and finding fun and play. Jessi works closely with Sarah Baskin (Anthony Meindl’s Acting Studio) to further develop solid, foundational acting technique for young actors.
Jessi believes that technique is the “foundation of vocal health, stability, and growth and should be first and foremost in our development.” Jessi currently works closely with NYC’s top vocal teacher, Michael Jacobs, to further develop her advanced technical approach consisting of breathing, stretches, tension release, and placement. The ultimate goal for us as singers is to stop thinking about every step while singing because the foundation is completely reliable. If we trust the process, amazing transformations can happen!
Here are a few quotes from Jessi’s students and their parents.
“My son has been taking private vocal/acting lessons with Jessi for a year now. Jessi helped my son to clarify his goals and created attainable steps for him to work towards. I am confident my son now has the skills in place to succeed as he starts his run on Broadway! She has taught him healthy vocal techniques and has helped bring his acting to a whole new level. She encourages hard work and dedication from her students. Jessi has a wealth of knowledge and shares her passion with her students with such patience and kindness. I look forward to the lessons each week as I continue to watch my son grow as a performer and vocalist. Working with Jessi has been a gift! I highly recommend Jessi to anyone looking to improve their performance and who needs help navigating the entertainment industry!”