Jessica Speak

Contemporary music specialist, Jessica Speak, has premiered new works at International Festivals in United States and Europe as well as in her hometown of Orlando, Florida. She holds the position of Principal Clarinet with the highly acclaimed Bach Festival Society Orchestra and performs regularly with many area ensembles like the Orlando Contemporary Chamber Orchestra, Southern Winds Symphonic Band, and Walt Disney World Orchestra. She also performs as a soloist, presenting new and adventurous works. She is committed to utilizing extended performance techniques in her solo playing as well as incorporating them into her teaching as a means to help her students build strong playing fundamentals. She maintains a private studio of some of the top young clarinetists in the state, presents master classes, and serves as an adjudicator for various events throughout Florida. She is also on the faculty at Stetson University where she teaches applied clarinet, pedagogy for winds and percussion, orchestral excerpts, directs the clarinet choir, and coaches woodwind chamber music.

Jessica is a founding member of The Sunshine Clarinet Quintet and Persimmon Ensemble. Both groups have commissioned and premiered several compositions and consistently explore new collaborations with diverse composers. She performed on the album, Pulse, A Musical Monument, in collaboration with The Velez Quartet playing new works by contemporary composer, Carlos Velez that commemorate the lives lost in the Pulse Nightclub shooting. An ardent advocate for new music in the Central Florida area, she serves as president of the performance board of the Orlando Contemporary Chamber Orchestra, where she coordinates operations, collaboration with local composers, and programming efforts to grow the organization and continue their mission of performing new compositions written by active composers.