Jessica was born in New Zealand and later moved to the United States.

She returned to New Zealand in 2020 when she was engaged as Guest Assistant Concertmaster of the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra and was delighted to join the Orchestra as Assistant Principal Second in 2022.

After an acclaimed Sibelius Violin Concerto performance with the Colorado Symphony Orchestra, she recorded two chamber music albums for the Naxos and Tactus recording labels, including the premiere recording of twentieth-century Italian composer Gino Gorini's chamber works. She has performed solo and chamber music recitals at Teatro La Fenice (Venice), Le Poisson Rouge (New York), Lincoln Center (New York), Cité Internationale Universitaire de Paris, the Sydney Opera House, and the Melbourne Recital Centre.

Following studies at the Juilliard School, Yale University, and the Yale School of Music, Jessica moved to Germany, where her quartet worked intensively with Gerhard Schulz of the Alban Berg Quartet.

In Australia, Jessica has performed frequently as concertmaster for Victorian Opera (Melbourne) and in principal roles at the Canberra International Music Festival, the Peninsula Summer Music Festival and the Warren Chamber Music Festival. She regularly works with the Sydney Symphony Orchestra, Orchestra Victoria, and the Australian Romantic & Classical Orchestra.

Before returning to New Zealand, Jessica lived in New York City, working at the City University of New York's Brooklyn College, teaching violin, chamber music, and orchestral studies to undergraduate and master's students. As a musician and pedagogue, she is greatly influenced by her teachers, notably Daniel Phillips, Igor Ozim, and Mark Steinberg.

My very first musical memory is of the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra. It was at an NZSO concert when I was four years old that I fell in love with the violin. I can still easily summon that feeling of childhood awe – of being utterly captivated by the dancing bows of the violin section, the shining instruments beneath the stage lights, the sheer power of so many people coming together to play music. The memory of that first musical experience resonates every time the orchestra plays – the knowledge that in every audience, in every part of the country, there are young people who might be inspired to become musicians.