Jessica Pearce

Dr. Jessica Pearce is the horn professor at Eastern Illinois University and Assistant/Utility Horn with the Illinois Symphony Orchestra, which she joined in 2013.  In addition to performing with the ISO, Jessica plays second horn with the Champaign-Urbana Symphony.  She has also performed with the Quad City Symphony, Peoria Symphony, Chicago Jazz Philharmonic, the Gil Evans Project, Chicago Philharmonic Orchestra, the Elgin Symphony Orchestra,  Camerata Chicago, the Southwest Michigan Symphony, and many more throughout the midwest.

Jessica is an avid chamber musician who frequently performs with her EIU colleagues in faculty recitals and masterclasses. She is also a member of the chamber ensemble Calypsus Brass, formed in 2021. Calypsus Brass is a groundbreaking musical group founded by five women who earned a doctoral degree in music, the first of its kind. Calypsus Brass is committed to prioritizing recording and performing works of historically marginalized composers to uplift the highest quality of music. 

In 2018 Jessica completed a Doctorate of Musical Arts in Horn Performance and Literature at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.  During this degree she studied horn with Bernhard Scully and also studied jazz improvisation with Jim Pugh. 

Primary Teachers:

• University of Illinois: Bernhard Scully

• University of Michigan: Adam Unsworth and Bryan Kennedy

• Illinois Wesleyan University: Christine Janicki

• Neil Kimel of the Lyric Opera of Chicago

• David Griffin of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra

Education

D.M.A. University of Illinois, 2018

M.M. University of Michigan, 2011

B.M. Illinois Wesleyan University, 2009