Jessie M. Vallejohome | ethnomusicologist | educator | performer | images | blog | bio Biography |
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Currently, Jessie Vallejo is a graduate ethnomusicology student at UCLA. Her research interests revolve around Native American communities (Iroquois and Indigenous Ecuador) and music education. Other interests include mariachi music and music of Latin America, violin pedagogy, music of Spain (flamenco and Basque), and arranging. Jessie performs with Mariachi Uclatlan and the UCLA Silk & Bamboo ensembles. Before attending UCLA, Miss Vallejo completed a semester as an interim orchestra director at West Genesee Middle School. In 2008 Jessie was invited to present her research of music learning in regards to mariachi violin and its application in the public school string curriculum at the 2008 CDIME, Seattle conference with her mentor, Marsha Baxter, and colleague, Theresa Thomasulo. Other conferences she presented at were the 2008 SAM, San Antonio conference, and the SUNY Potsdam's Campus Festival: Connections and Intersections: Our Changing Landscapes on April 19, 2007. Jessie, a native of Syracuse, NY, attended the Crane School of Music at SUNY Potsdam where she studied music education and Spanish. At Crane, Jessie studied violin with John Lindsey and viola briefly with Dr. Peter Bucknell. Miss Vallejo earned her performer's certificate in addition to her major and minor. In the spring of 2006, Jessie studied violin under the tutelage of Luda Mesropian in Madrid, Spain, while spending a semester abroad at the Instituto Internacional. From 2005-2007, Jessie was awarded a grant from the Presidential Scholars Program (project description is outdated) at SUNY Potsdam, which funded her initial research of the roles of the violin in mariachi and flamenco. |
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Miss Vallejo completed her student teaching in the Syracuse City Schools and the Baldwinsville Central Schools. With the Baldwinsville high school orchestra, Jessie continued her Presidential Scholar's work by refining her string orchestra arrangement of El Son de La Negra for its premiere on the winter concert. Her lessons involved collaboration with the Spanish department, and a rehearsal dedicated to an enrichment lesson about Mexico and mariachi.
Jessie's undergraduate years were spent being heavily active in a wide array of curricular and extra-curricular groups. She was a violinist in the Orchestra of Northern New York and the Crane Symphony Orchestra, participating in the Carnegie Hall Concert, the Nutcracker Ballet production with the Albany Berkshire Ballet Company, the opera premiere of "The Sailor Boy and The Falcon" by Dr. Siskind, starring Stephanie Blythe, and she sat assistant principal for the CSO concert led by Leon Fleischer. Miss Vallejo also performed four solo recitals, played in various chamber groups including Crane's jazz string project, collaborated with composers on new works, and acted as a liaison for Crane's National String Project's semester unit on Latin American music. Outside of Crane, Jessie was a regular performer at Spanish Club cafes, a member and vice-president of the Caribbean Latin American Student Society (C.L.A.S.S.), attended Potsdam's first annual Leadership Conference on behalf of C.L.A.S.S., a Wellness Advocate peer counselor, and participated in grassroots lobbying in Albany for adequate and appropriate funding for New York's public universities. While vice president of C.L.A.S.S., Jessie helped organize a well-attended 2004 Rock The Vote event that included a lecture by invited guest and recent Green Party Vice-Presidential candidate, Rosa Clemente. Jessie has received numerous accolades and recognition for her academic achievements, leadership skills, and cultural awareness. She has been the recipient of awards from the Multicultural Alliance of Northern New York, Teacher's Opportunity Corps., Shane T. Shaul Memorial Scholarship, the Strings Magazine scholarship, the Wegman's Employee Scholarship, and the Ken Cottrell Outstanding Human Service Award. Jessie is a member of the American String Teacher's Association, Music Educators National Conference, Society for Ethnomusicology, Society for American Music, and Phi Kappa Phi. Jessie values spending time with her family and friends, and enjoys genealogy, playing soccer, traveling, animals (especially prairie dogs!) and great food. Jessie is the violinist in The Barrington Duo, with her boyfriend and guitarist, Giovanni Mera. |