Jennifer read Music at the University of Edinburgh and continued her research there, gaining an MPhil in Composition in 1996. She was then appointed Composer in Residence at Stewart’s Melville College and The Mary Erskine School and teacher of Composition at the City of Edinburgh Music School, while also lecturing in the Animation Department of Edinburgh College of Art, the Drama Department of Queen Margaret College and in the Faculty of Music at the University of Edinburgh, where she taught both Composition and Music in the Community. Jennifer is currently a National Companies Assessor for the Scottish Government and the Scotland Coordinator for Music for Youth. She has served as a Director on the Boards of Lung Ha’s Theatre Company and Drake Music Scotland and in January 2013, she was appointed Chief Executive of Hebrides Ensemble.
Jennifer read Music at the University of Edinburgh and continued her research there, gaining an MPhil in Composition in 1996. She was then appointed Composer in Residence at Stewart’s Melville College and The Mary Erskine School and teacher of Composition at the City of Edinburgh Music School, while also lecturing in the Animation Department of Edinburgh College of Art, the Drama Department of Queen Margaret College and in the Faculty of Music at the University of Edinburgh, where she taught both Composition and Music in the Community.
Jennifer has run creative education projects for the Scottish Chamber Orchestra, Royal Scottish National Orchestra, Scottish Opera, Scottish Ensemble, Horsecross, the Academy of St Martin in the Fields and local councils across Scotland. In 2003 she was appointed Learning Manager for the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra, where she was responsible for devising and managing a wide range of educational initiatives, both in Scotland and internationally. She was part of the initial steering group that brought El Sistema to Scotland, spending time in Caracas, examining the teaching methodology and evaluating its potential.
Having returned to a freelance career, her experience of music education and training has led to several consultancy projects, including the writing of a three-year professional development programme for the RSNO; devising education and evaluation strategies for the Scottish Ensemble and Hebrides Ensemble; the writing of a community music strategy for Edinburgh Napier University; and supporting the development of a new BMus degree in Music and Communities for the University of Aberdeen.
As a composer, recent works include The Sound of Me (Hear My Music, Daniel’s Beard), Blethering (Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama), Magnificat and Nunc Dimitis (St Mary’s Episcopal Cathedral, Glasgow), Look in the Mirror (Stewart’s Melville College and the Mary Erskine School), Seeing Sounds (New Edinburgh Orchestra), Hearing Pictures (New Edinburgh Orchestra, BBC SSO/Radio 3) and Airborne for Mark O’Keeffe (principal trumpet BBC SSO).
Jennifer is currently a National Companies Assessor for the Scottish Government and the Scotland Coordinator for Music for Youth. She has served as a Director on the Boards of Lung Ha’s Theatre Company and Drake Music Scotland and in January 2013, she was appointed Chief Executive of Hebrides Ensemble.
