Jonathan Wright, Co-Founder & Co-Director
The Kabbage director chair
Jonathan Wright started studying violin at the age of 5 and has spent over 25 years teaching and performing. An active performer, he has played with the Orchestras of Macon, Valdosta, Columbus, Charleston, Atlanta, Hilton Head, and Savannah, among others. In addition to orchestral work, he has had the opportunity to perform with artists like Christina Aguilera, Phil Collins, Sarah McLaughlin, Josh Groban, The Trans-Siberian Orchestra, to name a few. Mr. Wright has been on over 25 domestic and international tours as a principal violinist and contractor, most recently, a month long tour in Japan. In June of 2015, he took a position as agent/manager with OmniPops Entertainment.
As a teacher, he has maintained an active teaching studio since 2000. A number of his students have gone on to pursue careers in music in the fields of performance, education, and therapy. He is also a frequent guest clinician for the Cobb, Cherokee, Gwinnett, and Fulton County school systems.
As a teacher, he has maintained an active teaching studio since 2000. A number of his students have gone on to pursue careers in music in the fields of performance, education, and therapy. He is also a frequent guest clinician for the Cobb, Cherokee, Gwinnett, and Fulton County school systems.
Dr. Jessica Sherer, Co-Founder & Co-Director
The UPS director chair
An adventurous flutist hailed for her "versatility and depth of understanding" (composer Eva Kendrick), Dr. Jessica Sherer has earned a reputation for taking on many unique and varied musical projects. Jessica currently serves as principal flutist with Sinfonia Gulf Coast and piccoloist with the Spartanburg Philharmonic, and previously held positions with the Valdosta, LaGrange, Albany, and Northwest Florida Symphonies. She performs regularly with orchestras throughout the Southeast, including the Atlanta Opera Orchestra, Greenville Symphony, Savannah Philharmonic, South Carolina Philharmonic, Columbus Symphony, and Symphony Orchestra Augusta. She has also appeared with the New World Symphony, Orlando Philharmonic, and Columbia Symphony.
As a chamber musician, Jessica has performed with members of the Atlanta Symphony, New York Philharmonic, Los Angeles Philharmonic, and Metropolitan Opera. Jessica is an Artist in Residence at the Orfeo Music Festival in Vipiteno, Italy, and co-founder of Anon Ensemble, a flute, viola, and bassoon trio whose commissioned work, Juntos, by Eva Kendrick, was awarded the Judith Lang Zaimont Prize for the International Alliance of Women in Music New Music Search. A strong advocate for new music, Jessica has commissioned and premiered works by many composers, including Eva Kendrick, Nicole Chamberlain, Marc Yeats, Richard Applin, Michael Daughterty and Ladislav Kubik. She has performed with Atlanta's Chamber Cartel, the Pierrot Lunaire Ensemble (in residence at Berklee College of Music), and Longitude New Music Ensemble (Cambridge, MA).
Currently the flute instructor for the Conservatory of Music at the Lovett School in Atlanta, Jessica has previously served on the faculties of Valdosta State University, Emory University, Agnes Scott College, and University of North Georgia, and has maintained a large and selective pre-college studio. Her students have won prizes in the Atlanta Flute Club, Florida Flute Club, Kennesaw State University, and other competitions; earned regular first chair placements in GMEA All-State ensembles; attended such prestigious summer festivals as Interlochen Arts Camp and Eastern Music Festival, and Brevard Music Festival; and earned acceptance at the Oberlin Conservatory, New England Conservatory, Rice University, Northwestern University, Florida State University, and more. They have also earned positions in the Atlanta Symphony Youth Orchestra, Emory Youth Symphony Orchestra, and all other major Atlanta area youth orchestras. She has served as a teaching artist for the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra and given masterclasses at Florida State University, Tennessee Tech University, Valdosta State University, and others.
A long-time advocate of social justice through music, Jessica founded the Play It Forward Scholarship Program, Inc., a nonprofit which provides private lesson scholarships in exchange for hour-for-hour volunteer work, for which she won the 2016 National Flute Association Arts Venture competition. She served as the Flute Teaching Artist for the Atlanta Music Project, an El Sistema organization providing intensive music training for children in underserved communities, from its inception in 2010 until 2015, and she represented AMP as a speaker at the 2012 TEDx Centennial Park Women conference.
Jessica holds a D.M. from Florida State University, a M.M. from the Longy School of Music, and a B.M. from Boston University, and has studied at the Brevard and Bowdoin music festivals. Her principal teachers include Robert Willoughby, Eva Amsler, Laura Gilbert, Marianne Gedigian, Linda Toote, Elizabeth Goode, and Trygve Peterson. She can be heard on recordings with the FSU Symphony Orchestra (Naxos) and Chamber Cartel (independent).
As a chamber musician, Jessica has performed with members of the Atlanta Symphony, New York Philharmonic, Los Angeles Philharmonic, and Metropolitan Opera. Jessica is an Artist in Residence at the Orfeo Music Festival in Vipiteno, Italy, and co-founder of Anon Ensemble, a flute, viola, and bassoon trio whose commissioned work, Juntos, by Eva Kendrick, was awarded the Judith Lang Zaimont Prize for the International Alliance of Women in Music New Music Search. A strong advocate for new music, Jessica has commissioned and premiered works by many composers, including Eva Kendrick, Nicole Chamberlain, Marc Yeats, Richard Applin, Michael Daughterty and Ladislav Kubik. She has performed with Atlanta's Chamber Cartel, the Pierrot Lunaire Ensemble (in residence at Berklee College of Music), and Longitude New Music Ensemble (Cambridge, MA).
Currently the flute instructor for the Conservatory of Music at the Lovett School in Atlanta, Jessica has previously served on the faculties of Valdosta State University, Emory University, Agnes Scott College, and University of North Georgia, and has maintained a large and selective pre-college studio. Her students have won prizes in the Atlanta Flute Club, Florida Flute Club, Kennesaw State University, and other competitions; earned regular first chair placements in GMEA All-State ensembles; attended such prestigious summer festivals as Interlochen Arts Camp and Eastern Music Festival, and Brevard Music Festival; and earned acceptance at the Oberlin Conservatory, New England Conservatory, Rice University, Northwestern University, Florida State University, and more. They have also earned positions in the Atlanta Symphony Youth Orchestra, Emory Youth Symphony Orchestra, and all other major Atlanta area youth orchestras. She has served as a teaching artist for the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra and given masterclasses at Florida State University, Tennessee Tech University, Valdosta State University, and others.
A long-time advocate of social justice through music, Jessica founded the Play It Forward Scholarship Program, Inc., a nonprofit which provides private lesson scholarships in exchange for hour-for-hour volunteer work, for which she won the 2016 National Flute Association Arts Venture competition. She served as the Flute Teaching Artist for the Atlanta Music Project, an El Sistema organization providing intensive music training for children in underserved communities, from its inception in 2010 until 2015, and she represented AMP as a speaker at the 2012 TEDx Centennial Park Women conference.
Jessica holds a D.M. from Florida State University, a M.M. from the Longy School of Music, and a B.M. from Boston University, and has studied at the Brevard and Bowdoin music festivals. Her principal teachers include Robert Willoughby, Eva Amsler, Laura Gilbert, Marianne Gedigian, Linda Toote, Elizabeth Goode, and Trygve Peterson. She can be heard on recordings with the FSU Symphony Orchestra (Naxos) and Chamber Cartel (independent).
Caleb Herron, Director of Residence Life
Caleb Herron is an energetic performer of the new and unheard. He was born with an ear for unique sounds and feeds this intrinsic sense through his passion for contemporary music. From this passion, Caleb has commissioned more than twenty new works from composers such as Christopher Adler, Marc Yeats, Anthony Donofrio, Daniel Swilley, Drew Baker, Carolyn Chen, Drew Dolan, and Michael Vincent Waller. Caleb is a founding member, percussionist, and Artistic Director of Chamber Cartel, a contemporary music group based in Atlanta. Through innovative programming the Cartel has brought several important pieces of contemporary repertoire to Atlanta and has commissioned more than twenty new works since 2012. He has been fortunate to study under the direction of Dr. Stuart Gerber at Georgia State University and Dr. Morris Palter at the University of Alaska Fairbanks. Caleb teaches percussion at Georgia State University, Perimeter College.
