Born and raised in New Hampshire (USA), Jessie first trained as a music teacher at the University of New Hampshire (Bmus in Music Education, 2006), as a classical and jazz saxophone student. In her early years as a music educator, she focused on conducting, leading, composing, and arranging for wind bands.

Jessica’s love for folk and traditional music led her to study Irish music and Ethnomusicology at the University of Limerick (2008) as a postgraduate student. She has been playing traditional flute and fiddle for over a decade, and now actively performs around Cork’s vibrant music scene.

As a PhD student at University College Cork, Jessica’s research explored the learning processes within Irish traditional music. In 2017, she was awarded the prestigious Irish Research Council’s Post-Doctoral Fellowship, which supported the publication of my first book, Becoming an Irish Traditional Musician: Learning and Embodying Culture (Routledge, September 2020). (https://www.routledge.com/Becoming-an-Irish-Traditional-Musician-Learning-and-Embodying-Musical-Culture/Cawley/p/book/9780367429997)

In addition to scholarly outputs, Jessica has performed and taught traditional, jazz and classical music for over 15 years. She has developed, taught and led music programmes in the United States and Ireland in numerous contexts, ranging from primary, secondary and third level formal education, to facilitating inclusive music-making in community settings.

In 2013, Jessica established the non-profit organisation, Creative Tradition, which currently leads school and community programmes, including two Club Ceoil centres in Knocknaheeny and Blarney. Since 2012, Jessica has acted as a programme provider and music tutor for Music Generation Cork City, before taking up the role of coordinator from 2018-2019.

Jessica currently serves on the executive board of Society of Music Education, Ireland. She is also the Secretary of FairPlé – an inclusive, grass-roots organisation, founded to address gender balance in Irish Traditional and folk music performance. She has helped the organisation in several ways, including writing and documenting their social impact (see https://www.fairple.com/report).