Jackie first started playing the French horn at age 11, was switched “against my will” to euphonium three years later and came back to the horn at the age of 18 because “I wanted to play an orchestral instrument, and the music of my favorite composers (Bruckner, Dvorak, Tschaikovsky, Kodaly) features the horn most prominently.”
“My eternal goal as a musician is honing my art and forever exploring new horizons,” says Jackie. “Two days ago I played Blues and Variations for Monk for Solo Horn (by David Amram) as a soloist at a special concert. If it's new and different and strange and generally eclectic, count me in!”
Being a musician means sometimes having to find other jobs to supplement the income. “The resume is too long to list here,” says Jackie, “but most of what I have done outside sitting behind a music stand is in education. I've taught everything from music to general classroom to special education to auto mechanics to communications technology."
These days Jackie keeps busy as orchestra director of Youth Orchestra Salinas, and in what spare time there is, likes to write songs and stories, collect antique radios, and invent new and different ways of doing things. “No brag, just fact: I have one of the best California plant yards in Monterey County!”
Jackie is most proud of being a tenured member of the Santa Cruz Symphony for 28 years (34 years overall with being a regular substitute), and even prouder of being a member of the Search Committee that brought Danny Stewart to our podium.