Jessica not only shares the role of Musical Director, she also works with the youth in the band through our partnership with Music Generation Mayo and with adult leaners through the band. Jessica played the recorder and clarinet in primary school and joined her local brass band in the UK at age 11, playing the tenor horn. She got her music degree at university, BMus (hons), with tenor horn as her first instrument and clarinet as her second. After graduating she qualified as a teacher (PGCE, PGDip) and worked in secondary schools and with her village brass band. As head of music in a UK secondary school, Jessica was responsible for developing a music department with an excellent reputation for academic success and outstanding performances. Jessica has coached singers and conducted a live orchestra for annual musicals, ranging from West Side Story to Hairspray, involving 120 students on the stage! She trained and conducted a jazz band, vocal ensembles and a folk band, these groups performing in local concerts and residential tours in the UK and abroad. Jessica also led a team of 11 peripatetic instrumental teachers, encouraging them to enter students for practical and theory exams and engage in extra-curricular activities. Since moving to Ireland in 2018 one of Jessica’s main priorities was to find a musical community of which to be part. Jessica says she was extremely fortunate to have the Foxford Brass and Reed band in her local area, as the band shares the same ethos on music being accessible to all.