Jessica Wakefield Hao
B.M. The Juilliard School
M.M. Cleveland Institute of Music

Jessica Wakefield has performed as a soloist, recitalist, chamber musician, and orchestra member throughout the United States and Western Europe, as well as Russia, Japan, and Costa Rica. She is currently a member of the Kansas City Symphony. Before accepting her position in Kansas City, Wakefield served as Associate Concertmaster of the Virginia Symphony, and prior to that, she held a joint position as Concertmaster of the Topeka Symphony and Artist-in-Residence at Washburn University. Other experience includes performing as Principal Second of the Charleston Symphony, New World Symphony, and as an extra with the Minnesota Orchestra. She earned a Bachelor's degree from the Juilliard School and a Master's degree from the Cleveland Institute of Music. Her major teachers include Donald Weilerstein, Roland and Almita Vamos, Joseph Fuchs and Masao Kawasaki. Wakefield has worked extensively with major artists such as Yo-Yo Ma, Leonard Bernstein, Bobby McFerrin, Seiji Ozawa, Simon Rattle, and James Conlon. She has also worked with members of the Juilliard, Cleveland, Guarneri, and American String Quartets. Wakefiled has been in residence at numerous music festivals, including Tanglewood, Taos, Sarasota, Pacific (Japan), and Schleswig-Holstein (Germany). Recent solo engagements include a performance of the Brahms Violin Concerto with the Gulf Coast Symphony of Fort Myers, Florida, a performance of the Mendelssohn Violin Concerto with the Topeka Symphony Orchestra, and a performance of "Fall" from Vivaldi's Four Seasons with the Virginia Symphony.