Jesse Thompson

Jesse Thompson is a third-year Violin Fellow at the New World Symphony. Before moving to Miami Beach, he was living in Pittsburgh, performing with the Pittsburgh Opera, Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre, Wheeling Symphony and Grand Rapids Symphony. Jesse has spent his summers attending music camps and festivals such as New England Music Camp, Sunflower Music Festival and Buzzards Bay Musicfest. He has had the opportunity of performing with renowned soloists Andrea Bocelli, Yo-Yo Ma and Stefan Jackiw, among others. 

In 2022, while attending the Sunflower Music Festival in Topeka, Kansas, Jesse had the honor and privilege of playing at the Brown vs Board of Education school and historic landmark, where he performed Blue/s Forms for solo violin by Coleridge-Taylor Perkinson. Jesse is biracial and very passionate about culturally diversifying and influencing the classical music world as best he can. He aspires to one day hold a private teaching studio with the majority of his students being minorities or coming from diverse backgrounds.  

Jesse has taken lessons and master classes with pedagogues Sally Thomas and Charles Castleman, as well as members of The Philadelphia Orchestra, including Kim Fisher, Marc Rovetti and David Kim. Jesse attended Duquesne University, where he obtained his bachelor’s, artist diploma and master’s in violin performance. He studied with Charles and Rachel Stegeman at Duquesne University for eight years. Prior to attending Duquesne, he studied with Kenneth Sarch in his hometown of Williamsport, Pennsylvania. In his free time from practicing, he enjoys learning Spanish, cooking, trying new restaurants and, of course, the beach.