Jessica Speak
Adjunct Professor of Music, Clarinet
I believe our journey in music brings many wonderful experiences and challenges and each one opens the chance to grow as a musician and person. I want my students to feel their journey in this way and always practice self-compassion and curiosity. The field of music offers endless opportunities for exploration. It is my goal to instill the love of a lifelong pursuit of music-making no matter where life takes them.
- MM, clarinet performance, SUNY Purchase College, 2005
- BM, clarinet, Stetson University, 2002
- DMA, Florida State University 2020
Biography
Jessica Speak has been on the faculty at Stetson University since 2012. She teaches applied clarinet, pedagogy for winds and percussion, orchestral excerpts, directs the Stetson University Clarinet Choir, and coaches woodwind chamber music. She holds principal clarinet positions with esteemed area ensembles, including the Bach Festival Orchestra, Orlando Contemporary Chamber Orchestra, and the Walt Disney World Orchestra. She maintains an active private studio and many of her students are chosen to participate in auditioned ensembles such as the Florida All State Bands and Orchestras and the Florida Symphony Youth Orchestra. She presents master classes and consistently serves as an adjudicator for various musical events throughout Florida.
She has a special interest in contemporary music, and performs regularly as a soloist, presenting new and adventurous works. She has commissioned several new compositions including pieces for unaccompanied clarinet as well as mixed instrumentation chamber works. 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 and fundraising efforts to grow the organization and keep the ensemble performing new compositions written by active composers.
Recent recordings Jessica is featured on include Pulse, A Musical Monument; The Music of Carlos Velez (2019) and Lines and Shadows, music of Eric Mandat (2024).
Jessica received her DMA in clarinet performance from Florida State University, her MM in clarinet performance from SUNY Purchase College and a BM in clarinet performance from Stetson University. Her primary teachers include Deborah Bish, Ayako Oshima Neidich, and Lynn Musco. Jessica is a proud Buffet Crampon performance artist and plays on RC Prestige B flat and A clarinets.
In addition to her love and commitment to music, performing, collaboration and teaching, she loves long-distance running and has completed 12 marathons and hopes to do many more.
More About Jessica Speak
Areas of Expertise
- Contemporary Techniques for the Clarinet
- Clarinet Pedagogy
- Clarinet Performance
- Chamber Music
- Pedagogy for Winds and Percussion
- Clarinet Choir
- Functional Keyboard
- Orchestral Excerpts for Clarinet
Course Sampling
- Applied Clarinet
- Chamber Music
- Clarinet Choir
- Pedagogy for Woodwinds, Brass and Percussion
- Clarinet Pedagogy
- Contemporary Music
- Unaccompanied Clarinet works of Eric Mandat