We were lucky to catch up with Jessica Saunders recently and have shared our conversation below.
Jessica, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. What’s been the most meaningful project you’ve worked on?
The most meaningful project I have worked on was a song cycle I commissioned from my dear friend, composer Lisa Neher, that uses the text from voicemails left by my deceased mother and grandfather. It is a set of songs about familial love that gets us through every day.
My mother passed away suddenly in 2017, the week I graduated from my DMA program in Vocal Performance at the University of Iowa and 6 weeks before my wedding. After she died, I looked for any recordings and videos of her. Sadly, I only had a few short voicemails still on my phone and very few other ways of remembering how she sounded. I saved those voicemails and began to save other voicemails from loved. In 2019 my grandfather, my mother’s father, also passed away and I had quite a few longer voicemails saved from him.
I had wanted to have these voicemails set to music for quite a long time and after the pandemic, I felt even more strongly called to get these songs produced. In the fall of 2021, Lisa and I decided voicemails to set and we settled on two longer voicemails from my grandpa to bookend 5 short voicemails from my mom. I also wanted this to be a chamber work, so we decided the song set would be written for voice, cello, and piano. Over the next few months Lisa and I were in contact as she began setting the texts to music. She was an amazing collaborator and took all of my suggestions to heart. I gave the world premiere performance of Bye for Now at Kirkwood Community College in Cedar Rapids, Iowa in March.
This was such a special occasion for me in many ways. First, it was such an honor to premiere this new work that my friend wrote. Lisa did an amazing job setting these voicemails and was able to capture the playfulness of some of the voicemails, as well as the imagery they evoke, not to mention the love and passion contained in the texts. I was also so grateful to perform with my business partner, Christina Craig Gentzsch (cello) and colleague Joseph McKinley (piano). Additionally, this was the first time I had given a solo recital since my mother died. I was devasted when she passed and completely burnt out after completing my degree, so it was a big accomplishment to get back on stage and prepare some new music, not to mention doing it while 7 months pregnant! Finally, this set was so important to me because I wanted a way to honor my mother and grandfather. They were both huge supporters of my singing and performing and now I have a way to share them with the world even though they are no longer earthside.
Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers?
While I love to perform, I am primarily a voice teacher. I believe in building confidence in my students and I work with each student to explore their individual skills and talents. I have been performing since I was seven and pretty much knew from that age that I wanted to sing and perform for a living.
I am passionate about working with young singers and I have been featured on The Full Voice Podcast with Nikki Loney about my innovative virtual recital offerings during the pandemic. I am a member of NATS (National Association of Teachers of Singing) and currently serves as the audition chair for the Central region. I am also a member of the Speakeasy Cooperative (SECO), a think tank for private voice teachers and business owners. I currently teach applied voice at Kirkwood Community College in Cedar Rapids and have also taught diction, vocal pedagogy, song literature, and directed the opera scenes program at Waldorf University in Forest City, Iowa, and taught Applied Voice at Grinnell College.
In the spring of 2021, I opened a brick-and-mortar music lesson studio, Dynamic Music Studios with three other amazing female musicians. We had to pivot from all teaching at a music store together before the pandemic, to teaching virtually from home during the pandemic, to opening our own business in a matter of months. This had always been a dream of mine and it was a very difficult process. We also run the Forte Cooperative, a collaborative community for area music teachers to help them run their own private studios more efficiently and attract students. We hope to become the first lesson studio clients in our area look to for music lessons and I am so proud of all we have accomplished in just a little over a year. I cannot wait to see what the future holds for our little music school.
I also have two amazing daughters, Claire (4 months) and Celeste (3 years) and a supportive husband Loren.
Have you ever had to pivot?
Well as I mentioned earlier my fellow business owners and I had to pivot a lot during the pandemic (didn’t we all!) When the music store we had been renting from changed its business model, we had just days to decide if we should stay with the studio, or strike out on our own. None of us had run a brick-and-mortar business and there was so much work to do and so much to learn in just a short time. We got some business mentors through the SCORE program with the Small Business Association, created a business plan, found and leased commercial real estate, hired contractors, secured a small business loan, came up with our branding, website, logo, and other marketing materials, and opened our space in just a few months. This was on top of teaching our clients virtually and attending to our families. It was so much work, but every time I am at Dynamic Music Studios, I feel so much joy working in a space that is mine and with teachers and students I love.
What do you find most rewarding about being creative?
I am a very social and emotional person. Being a creative means that I get to socialize and share deep emotions at the same time. Singing, and the arts in general, are all about sharing feelings and emotions with each other. I love that I get to do this on a daily basis and help my students learn about themselves on a deep level.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.dynamicmusicstudiosia.com, saundersvocalstudios.com
- Instagram: @saundersvocalstudios, @dmsia
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/dynamicmusicstudiosia, https://www.facebook.com/SaundersVocalStudios/
- Youtube: SaundersSoprano
- Other: Youtube link to Bye for Now world premiere: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g32RVuJ2t9Q&feature=youtu.be
Image Credits
Photos by Heather Henning at CliftonMarie Photography (https://cliftonmariephotography.com/) and Kyle Sleichter at Iowa’s Photographer (https://www.iowasphotographer.com).