Composer
Jessie Downs's music weaves together wild yet delicate sounds into rich psychological dramas. Much of her compositional approach stems from her experience as a performer of both bel canto and free improvisation. As a result, her music finds beauty in shapes both elegant and uncanny. She has written a variety of works for voices as well as for traditional, found, and altered acoustic instruments. While Jessie's most recent project was the premiere of her first opera, she has also produced works for educational, sacred, and concert settings.
In 2018, Jessie was featured as a finalist in Beth Morrison Project’s Next Generation Competition at National Sawdust Theatre in Brooklyn, showcasing promising creators of new opera. Other compositional accolades include winning 2nd place for best new harp composition in the 2014 Dutch Harp Festival. Her works have been performed throughout North America and Europe by a variety of excellent musicians and collaborators, including percussionist Christian Smith (The Hague), flutist Michael Matsuno (San Diego), and pianist Jade Conlee (New Haven), as well as professional ensembles like The Syndicate for the New Arts (Cleveland) and citywater (Sacramento). In 2016, she founded Sotto Voce, a vocal collective initiall founded to promote awareness of the compositional possibilities of writing for the human voice. Although the organization has now ventured into presenting reimagined canonical repertoire, the collective spent its first 7 years performing exclusively contemporary vocal repertoire, particularly by underrepresented composers.
As a TA at the University at Buffalo, Jessie taught all levels of undergraduate theory and aural skills classes, as well as UB’s “Art in Society” - a seminar focused on understanding art through community-based learning. From 2013-2015, Jessie co-founded and served as an instructor for Sonic Explorations, an El Sistema-inspired after-school music program for elementary school students in Orange, NJ. She has also taught the Creative Musicianship curriculum developed for this program in shorter-term classes for middle and high school students in both NJ and NY. Jessie holds a Bachelors of Music in Composition from Oberlin Conservatory and recently received a Doctor of Philosophy degree in Composition "with distinction" from the University at Buffalo (NY).
In 2018, Jessie was featured as a finalist in Beth Morrison Project’s Next Generation Competition at National Sawdust Theatre in Brooklyn, showcasing promising creators of new opera. Other compositional accolades include winning 2nd place for best new harp composition in the 2014 Dutch Harp Festival. Her works have been performed throughout North America and Europe by a variety of excellent musicians and collaborators, including percussionist Christian Smith (The Hague), flutist Michael Matsuno (San Diego), and pianist Jade Conlee (New Haven), as well as professional ensembles like The Syndicate for the New Arts (Cleveland) and citywater (Sacramento). In 2016, she founded Sotto Voce, a vocal collective initiall founded to promote awareness of the compositional possibilities of writing for the human voice. Although the organization has now ventured into presenting reimagined canonical repertoire, the collective spent its first 7 years performing exclusively contemporary vocal repertoire, particularly by underrepresented composers.
As a TA at the University at Buffalo, Jessie taught all levels of undergraduate theory and aural skills classes, as well as UB’s “Art in Society” - a seminar focused on understanding art through community-based learning. From 2013-2015, Jessie co-founded and served as an instructor for Sonic Explorations, an El Sistema-inspired after-school music program for elementary school students in Orange, NJ. She has also taught the Creative Musicianship curriculum developed for this program in shorter-term classes for middle and high school students in both NJ and NY. Jessie holds a Bachelors of Music in Composition from Oberlin Conservatory and recently received a Doctor of Philosophy degree in Composition "with distinction" from the University at Buffalo (NY).
About The Second Sight
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Jessie's Doctoral Dissertation was the completion, production, and performance of an opera in three acts about the spiritual connections between generations of women, entitled The Second Sight. The opera was premiered on June 26th, 2021 at the Unitarian Universalist Church of Buffalo, NY.
Check out this teaser to get a sneak preview, or watch the whole opera HERE. |
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Other Recent Work
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In Fall of 2022, Jessie revised her 2013 piece "Talismane" for vocal ensemble. and premiered the new version of her piece with her volunteer choir .
Other works in progress include an installation piece entitled "Eyes of Water" and a duo-drama for soprano and baritone entitled "Io." Stay tuned! |
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The 2021 premiere of The Second Sight was a Sotto Voce
production. Visit our website to learn more!
production. Visit our website to learn more!