About Jessica Needham
Jessica Needham, Orlando Flute teacher has been a flutist since 2005. Music is one of her passions and she loves expressing through flute. Throughout the years, Jessica has enjoyed sharing her passion for flute with others as well as passing along her knowledge through teaching. She enjoys helping other young flute players learn how to develop their technical and lyrical skills, as well as build their confidence and enjoyment of music. Jessica has taken lessons with the principal flutist of the Orlando Philharmonic Orchestra, Colleen Blagov, for several years.
Throughout her time at UCF, Jessica was actively involved in both concert and athletic bands, participating in an auditioned ensemble each semester. She played in the UCF Symphonic Band (serving as principal flute during the Fall 2019 semester), Wind Ensemble, and Symphony Orchestra. During her first few semesters, she also played in the UCF Flute Ensemble, directed by Dr. Nora Lee Garcia. She was also an enthusiastic member of the Marching Knights and the Jammin' Knights, the basketball pep band, throughout her college career.
During her final semester, Jessica traveled with the UCF Wind Ensemble to Northwestern State University in Louisiana to perform in the College Band Directors National Association (CBDNA) Southern Division Conference, where they premiered John Frantzen's Double Concerto for Wind Ensemble. In summer 2019, she got the opportunity to study abroad in Thailand. The course was Wind Band Conducting and Pedagogy, and they partnered with the music program at Mahidol University during their time there. In addition to their conducting studies, they also played chamber music and even got to play with the Mahidol ensembles. This experience introduced Jessica to another culture through music and showed her a different perspective and approach toward band literature. Two years later, she still looks back on this time as an instrumental part of her musical development, as well as another tool in her teaching.
