biography
Brazilian, Jessica Papi is a conductor and music educator. She holds a Master’s Degree in Music, from UNESP – “Julio de Mesquita Filho – State University of São Paulo, Brazil (2019) with expertise in Music Theory and Analysis, and a Bachelor’s Degree in Music with expertise in Conducting.
Jessica grew up in a small city in Minas Gerais, she learned to love music with her parents – her father an saxophonist and conductor of a wind band and her mother always sang in choirs. She began her music studies when she was 8 years old, the one child among adults to learn music theory and how to read a score. Sometime after, Jessica was ready to choose an instrument to play, and her first choice was the violin. She studied violin until she was 14 years old, but she stopped the studies because of financial issues. This personal experience helped her develop a strong love and commitment for social and educational music projects.
Her first music course in a formal school was in 2009, in São Paulo, when she was 17 years old. She got a full scholarship and studied Sacred Music at Theological Baptist College for four years and her field of expertise in this course was Classical Piano.
In 2011, Jessica discovered her passion for conducting through the choir conducting classes and started a Youth Choir. In 2012, she conducted and produced a Christmas Musical, with a mixed choir (adults and youths) and a children’s choir. Jessica decided to answer her call to this area, then, she started at university to study Conducting in 2013.
With tireless efforts, Jessica has attended masterclasses, festivals, and extra-curricular courses with great Brazilians maestros and maestras (as Abel Rocha, Alexandra Arrieche, Claudio Cruz, Diego Guzman, Emiliano Patarra, Jean Reis, Ligia Amadio, Lutero Rodrigues, Marcio Steuernagel, Rodrigo Vitta, Ricardo Rocha) to boost her conducting skills.
Teaching music is her other great passion. As Music Educator, Jessica has worked with children, teenagers, and youths, helping them to develop sensitivity, sociability, and musicality since 2009. Also, as Music Educator committed to supporting the musical development of young musicians, Jessica was an assistant professor in Music Theory at FIAAM FAAM University and completed her internship in Analysis at UNESP. As a researcher, she pursues to link music theory and performance, showing how these topics could interact in a way that engages youth artists better.
As an assistant conductor, Jessica worked with the String Academic Ensemble and the Academic Symphonic Orchestra at FIAAM FAAM University. As a conductor, Jessica worked with Academic Madrigal and together attended the “Eleazar de Carvalho Festival” in 2016, promoted by Eleazar de Carvalho’s family.
Jessica’s work is guided by strong values, including excellent musicianship, respect for each person, dedication and creativity in all things, and inspiring others to do the same. In search of constant improvement, recently Jessica attended as a student of world-renowned conductors such as Kenneth Kiesler, Dianne Wittry, Anna Edwards, Chaowen Ting, Kostantinos Diminakis, Catherine Larsen-Maguire, Markand Thakar, and Mark Gibson.
Jessica lives in Boca Raton-FL with her husband, Emanuel Carvalho, and their son, Joshua.
Currently, she is pursuing her second master’s degree, now, in Orchestral Conducting at Florida International University in Miami, Florida.
