Jessica Rash is a local musician and teacher with a degree in Choral Music Education from Converse University in South Carolina where she taught public school music and chorus for 17 years. She has been formally studying music since age 3 when she began Suzuki piano at the University of Tennessee.  Over the course of her musical career, she has studied piano, violin, voice, harp, music education, music composition, and choral conducting.  Jessica has a background in a variety of musical styles including classical, musical theatre, traditional folk, jazz, and barbershop in addition to advanced music theory studies and composition.  She is the director of Highland Harmony Community Chorus, pianist at First United Methodist Church in Oneida and teaches piano, voice, violin, ukulele, harp, cello, music theory and composition. Jessica also serves on the board of ASotA as the co-chair of the Arts Education Committee.

On Her Favorite Genre:  “Don’t ask me to pick!  I love so many genres of music and having studied the music of many cultures, time periods and even having taught Music Appreciation as a class, I see value in so many different kinds of music.  But I do have a special affinity for music from The Great American Songbook, aka jazz standards from the 1920s-1940s.  I feel so drawn to the songwriting of that time period, the jazz harmonies and clever turns of phrases in the lyric writing that are rare for our modern age of music.  This is the music of Ella Fitzgerald and Irving Berlin, of Nat King Cole and Cole Porter. The music is so rich and layered: jazz harmonies paired with lyrical wit that often views the use of  rhyming not as trite but as a joyful place to play with words, sometimes celebrating puns and tying musical ideas with lyrical ones.  Take Cole Porter’s song ‘Everytime We Say Goodbye.’  The lines ‘There’s no love song finer/But how strange the change from major to minor’ echoes the harmonic change from major chords to minor chords that happen simultaneously with the lyrics as well as the singer’s feelings of loss when their loved one leaves. Music like this is just pure bliss.” 

On Teaching Singers: “My philosophy of vocal education is that everyone can sing, even when they think they can’t.  Like so many disciplines, learning to sing well is simply the building of specific skills. Natural talent is wonderful but it will only take you so far.  Everyone can learn to sing and all singers can learn the skills it takes to become better singers.  There is science behind how the human voice works and all we have to do is apply the science and practice it consistently.  When you learn how the voice works and practice applying good technique you should be able to sing your whole life long.  So part of my job is promoting good vocal health with solid technique in all the singers I work with, so that they can continue to use and enjoy their voices for the rest of their lives.” 

On Highland Harmony Community Chorus:  “In 2023 through the Appalachian Society of the Arts, I created Highland Harmony Community Chorus and also served as its director. We are about to begin our second season of HHCC and I couldn’t be more excited!  In alignment with my belief that everyone can sing, I believe that a community chorus is an artistic outreach to the community, serving both those who participate as singers as well as those who hear our music.  Highland Harmony is providing Scott County with an opportunity to experience the joy of music through choral singing while also strengthening our community ties. We have members of different ages, experience,  ability levels, and walks of life.  But we are all united in one common purpose: to create beautiful harmonies with our voices.  In addition to community building, the benefits of singing in a group are numerous, including mental, physical, emotional, social, and artistic. I invite any teen or adult who is interested in more information about singing with us to please contact us at highlandharmonychorus@gmail.com  Rehearsals are twice a month and we’d love to have you!”

On Music Education:  “When you study music education, you learn about one of the great thinkers and contributors to the field: the Hungarian composer Zoltán Kodály. I am a big believer in his philosophy of music education, that music is for everyone.  My favorite Kodály quote epitomizes my mission as a music teacher. ‘The characteristics of a good musician can be summarized as follows: A well-trained ear, a well-trained intelligence, a well-trained heart, and a well-trained hand.  All four must develop together in constant equilibrium.’-Zoltán Kodály”

On Music as an Artform: “I believe that art is the perfect balance of technique and expression.  Great technique is what elevates the ordinary beyond our expectations.  It requires training, discipline, commitment, and diligence. But it must be paired with expression that is sensitive to the intention of the music.  Expression is what makes art relatable and reminds us of our humanity.  This is the part that allows us to connect to others through the artform.  Expression is our communication tool, telling others who we are, what we know, what we believe, and how we feel. When we marry technique and expression, we experience and allow our listeners to experience the extraordinary.”