Jessica Mills is a proud native of Louisville, Kentucky. At the age of 7 she began piano lessons, after several years of begging, and after teaching herself to play the songs from The Sound of Music by ear. She continued her piano training for the next 18 years. She graduated from the Youth Performing Arts High School in 1997, with an emphasis in voice, after years of study with Laura Lea Duckworth. While at YPAS, she began to work as a piano accompanist for soloists and ensembles. She had featured roles in several operas and musicals, the beginning of an ongoing love affair with both genres. She attended the Indiana University School of music in Bloomington, Indiana, where she studied under Lilin Chen (piano) and Teresa Kubiak (voice.) She was a pianist for instrumental recitals and private lessons, and a featured vocal soloist with the IU Women's chorale and University Singers. She was also a member of the IU Opera chorus.
After several years, she left Indiana because of a family illness, and finished her degree at Bellarmine University here in Louisville, where she studied under Meme Tunnel (piano) and Barry Lawrence (voice.) She was the Bellarmine Chapel cantor for several years, a position which led her into a second career as a church musician. She began teaching voice and piano privately 7 years ago, both on her own and through the Folsom Academy of the Arts. She is a member of the Music Teacher's National Association (MTNA,) and is a frequent attendee of conferences and workshops on various teaching techniques and theories. She is a working musician, performing with arts groups throughout the state. She frequently accompanies classical recitals and private lessons. She is the former music director at St. Elizabeth Ann Seton church is Okolona, and is an in demand soloist at churches in the area.
Jessica is married, and lives in the her Highlands home/studio with her husband Marc and their cats Leon, Dionne, and Sarah Jane.
"I love working as a private teacher! It's so rewarding to guide youth and adults into a greater understanding of the one true passion of my life, music."