Dr Jessica Walker
Jessica is Senior Lecturer and Lead in Artist Development at the Royal Academy of Music. For any enquiries about her work in this field, please contact her at : [email protected]
Read her recent article in Opera Now about the creation of new opera in conservatoires: www.gramophone.co.uk/opera-now/opinion/article/despite-the-elitist-slur-levelled-at-opera-it-s-not-the-word-that-springs-to-mind-when-you-work-with-talented-young-composers-dr-jessica-walker-on-new-opera-creation
Jessica was awarded her doctorate with commendation from Leeds University, in 2016. There, she undertook practice-led research into 'the singer-actor as creator and collaborator: a model for performer-led new music theatre works'. Her research was carried out with the support of a bursary from the School of PCI at the University of Leeds. Her teaching/ lecturing has included seminars and master-classes at the University of Melbourne, the Melbourne Conservatorium, the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, Winchester University, Leeds University, and the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama. She is currently external examiner for the Guildhall School of Music and Drama's Opera Making and Writing MA.
An interview with Jessica about her multi-disciplinary creative practice forms a chapter of the new Edinburgh Companion to Modernism in Contemporary Theatre (2023), edited by Adrian Curtin, Nicholas Johnson, Naomi Paxton and Claire Warden.
She has given papers at two International Song, Stage and Screen conferences - in Winchester and in Kansas City, a workshop presentation on her thesis at the Reflective Conservatoire Conference at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, papers at the Leeds University conference, The Theory, Practice and Business of Opera Today, and at the Psi Performance and Philosophy working group conference.
Her article, 'The creative/ collaborative process in industry: aesthetics, agency and pragmatism', appeared in the specialist issue of Studies in Musical Theatre in 2018, edited by Professor David Roesner. 'The Girl I Left Behind Me: the disjunction between vocal and visual performance in male impersonation', appears in the Intellect journal, Studies in Musical Theatre, Vol 6:1.
Jessica is a member of the Industry Advisory Committee for the School of Performance and Cultural Industries, Leeds University. She is on the Artistic Advisory Committee for Deal Festival. She also works as a mentor for several organisations, including advisory work with Mahogany Opera for their Various Stages Festival and mentoring for the CoLab collaborative practice scheme at Trinity Laban. She has recently given talks on career development for YCAT and Opera Prelude, and is a founder member of MAX - Musician and Artist Exchange - a forum for positive change in classical music.
Read her recent article in Opera Now about the creation of new opera in conservatoires: www.gramophone.co.uk/opera-now/opinion/article/despite-the-elitist-slur-levelled-at-opera-it-s-not-the-word-that-springs-to-mind-when-you-work-with-talented-young-composers-dr-jessica-walker-on-new-opera-creation
Jessica was awarded her doctorate with commendation from Leeds University, in 2016. There, she undertook practice-led research into 'the singer-actor as creator and collaborator: a model for performer-led new music theatre works'. Her research was carried out with the support of a bursary from the School of PCI at the University of Leeds. Her teaching/ lecturing has included seminars and master-classes at the University of Melbourne, the Melbourne Conservatorium, the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, Winchester University, Leeds University, and the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama. She is currently external examiner for the Guildhall School of Music and Drama's Opera Making and Writing MA.
An interview with Jessica about her multi-disciplinary creative practice forms a chapter of the new Edinburgh Companion to Modernism in Contemporary Theatre (2023), edited by Adrian Curtin, Nicholas Johnson, Naomi Paxton and Claire Warden.
She has given papers at two International Song, Stage and Screen conferences - in Winchester and in Kansas City, a workshop presentation on her thesis at the Reflective Conservatoire Conference at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, papers at the Leeds University conference, The Theory, Practice and Business of Opera Today, and at the Psi Performance and Philosophy working group conference.
Her article, 'The creative/ collaborative process in industry: aesthetics, agency and pragmatism', appeared in the specialist issue of Studies in Musical Theatre in 2018, edited by Professor David Roesner. 'The Girl I Left Behind Me: the disjunction between vocal and visual performance in male impersonation', appears in the Intellect journal, Studies in Musical Theatre, Vol 6:1.
Jessica is a member of the Industry Advisory Committee for the School of Performance and Cultural Industries, Leeds University. She is on the Artistic Advisory Committee for Deal Festival. She also works as a mentor for several organisations, including advisory work with Mahogany Opera for their Various Stages Festival and mentoring for the CoLab collaborative practice scheme at Trinity Laban. She has recently given talks on career development for YCAT and Opera Prelude, and is a founder member of MAX - Musician and Artist Exchange - a forum for positive change in classical music.