Teaching Philosophy
The classical music world is a tricky one to navigate, so I do my best to help my students each find their own unique voice, in addition to exploring new ways of making that voice heard. I help students to build their technique and mastery of the instrument, focusing on building a body of repertoire that best reflects the story that each ultimately decides to tell with their playing.
Learning is easier when the process is fun. I believe that shedding the relentless pursuit of perfection and instead focusing on enjoying each step along the journey allows for greater (and often swifter!) progress, because the process is enjoyable. I don’t believe that practice should feel punitive.
How we practice is much more important than how much we practice. I offer concrete, comprehensive practice strategies designed to fit each student’s specific needs.
Playing music with others is one of the great joys of being a musician, something we solitary pianists all too often forget. My own extensive chamber music experience informs the way I help students improve collaborative skills such as ensemble, balance, leading vs. following, and sight reading.
Pianist Jessica Xylina Osborne is a passionate performer, collaborator, and educator. Hailed by the Washington Post as “a pianist with a refreshing mellowness and poetic touch,” Jessica pursues ambitious projects that reflect creativity in programming, with the goal of bringing awareness to social justice issues. She enjoys presenting programs that pair well- known audience favorites with music being written today, in addition to performing works written by composers who have historically been overlooked or marginalized within the classical music canon.
Jessica has regularly performed with some of the classical music world’s biggest stars, including Hilary Hahn, Ani Kavafian, and Timothy Eddy, among many others. In addition to performing at some of the world’s top concert halls—including Carnegie Hall, the Seoul Arts Center, and the Kennedy Center—she has had the opportunity to perform at many of the world’s most unique and interesting venues: some of her favorites include the Walton Gardens in Ischia, Italy; the Louvre Museum in Paris; and the Folly Theater in Kansas City.
Jessica received her bachelor of music degree in piano performance from the Juilliard School and Indiana University Jacobs School of Music; her master of music degree from Rice University Shepherd School of Music; and her Doctorate of Musical Arts from Yale School of Music. Her teachers and mentors include her mother Patricia Osborne, Dr. Marjorie Lee, Seymour Lipkin, Emile Naoumoff, Jon Kimura Parker, and Claude Frank.
A devoted pedagogue, Jessica has been teaching for over 20 years. She has taught masterclasses across the country, as well as serving on the collaborative piano faculties of the Heifetz Institute of Music and the Nelli Shkolnikova Music Academy in France.