Biography

American violist Jossalyn Jensen enjoys a busy orchestral and chamber music career, having performed in concert in the United States, Europe, and Asia. Named a Fulbright Scholar in 2016, she currently holds the solo viola position at the Orchestre de Chambre de Paris, and is pursuing an Artist Diploma in Contemporary Music at the Conservatoire de Paris (CNSMDP). A rising star in classical performance, Ms. Jensen has been featured on National Public Radio’s From The Top and profiled in the Deseret News, Utah’s longest standing newspaper.

Since performing her first solo concerto with orchestra at age nine, Ms. Jensen has enjoyed highlight performances at venues including Carnegie Hall, Chicago’s Harris Theatre, the Elbphilharmoie, and the Philharmonie de Paris. As an orchestral musician, she has performed in groups including Ensemble Intercontemporain and has been invited to the world’s most prestigious festivals: In the United States, she has performed at Music Academy of the West and the Aspen Music Festival and School, while in Europe she has performed in the Verbier Festival Academy, the Lucerne Festival Academy, and Moritzburg, among many others.

A frequent performer of chamber music, Ms. Jensen has shared the stage with Ensemble Caliopée, members of the Cleveland Quartet, and such artists as Michel Strauss, Darrett Adkins, Jorja Fleezanis, David Halen and Jerome Lowenthal. Notable chamber festival invitations include Les Dissonance, Musique de Chambre à Giverny, Rencontres Musicales de Haute-Provence, the Caroga Lake Music Festival, and Les Nuits Pianistiques in Aix-en-Provence.

Ms. Jensen has received numerous awards, first receiving national attention for winning the $100,000 Jack Kent Cooke Award, given only to twenty young artists in the United States per year. In 2016, she would be named a laureate of the Fulbright Grant in pursuit of learning the contemporary repertoire for solo viola, studying with Jean Sulem at the Conservatoire national supérieur de musique et de danse de Paris. In 2017, she was named a fellow and resident musician at the Fondation des États-Unis, where she organized, programmed, and performed bi-monthly concerts given in the Fondation’s historic hall.

Jensen began teaching at 12 years old, and has since shown an aptitude for teaching both violin and other music skills: while at The Juilliard School, she served as an Ear Training instructor for graduate and undergraduate students, and maintains a private studio in Paris. Committed to musical outreach, she has performed in retirement centers, hospitals, libraries, parks, community centers, and public schools throughout the world. In this vein, she has served for Classical Revolution Cleveland, the Cleveland Community Service Outreach Program, and the Gluck Community Outreach Fellowship at The Juilliard School.

Originally from Utah, Jossalyn Jensen holds education from The Juilliard School (M.M.) and the Cleveland Institute of Music (B.M.), where she graduated with honors and was presented with the Milhaud Award and the Arnold Award in Viola. Her former teachers include Jean Sulem, Heidi Castleman, Misha Amory, Jeffrey Irvine, and David Dalton.