Biography
Dr. Jessica Schwefel, mezzo-soprano, holds degrees in Voice Performance from the University of Wisconsin-Madison (DMA and MM) and a Bachelor of Music Education Degree the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire. She is currently a Lecturer in the Music Department at the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater and teaches studio voice. She is also a part time instructor at Madison College, where she teaches Class Voice and directs the Madison College Chorale and Madison College Choral Collective. Her prior teaching experiences include teaching applied voice at the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh, University of Wisconsin-Madison, and UW Summer Music Clinic, and the Madison Academy of Music. Jessica's articles have been published recently in the Wisconsin School Musician Magazine and the NATS Journal of Singing.
Jessica has performed in over 35 operatic productions with the Florentine Opera Company, Madison Opera, Candid Concert Opera, Opera for the Young, Fresco Opera Theatre, Milwaukee Opera Theatre, Stoughton Opera, UW Opera, among many other professional engagements. A number of her operatic credits include the roles of Prince Orlofsky (Die Fledermaus), Erika (Vanessa), Hansel (Hansel and Gretel), Meg Page (Falstaff), Cecilia March (Little Women), Zita (Gianni Schicchi). Jessica is currently a member of the Florentine Opera Chorus, and was Madison Opera’s Studio Artist for their 2012-2013 season. She has been a regular soloist with the Florentine Opera for their summer concert series “Florentine at the Lake” and their outdoor concert “Live at the Peck” at the Marcus Center. In recent seasons, Jessica appeared in performances with the Florentine Opera, Present Music, Madison Bach Musicians, Madison Choral Project, Fresco Opera Theatre. For the 2018-2019 season, Jessica performed the role of “Female Emilia” in the opera Prince of Players with the Florentine Opera in October 2018. She will also be singing with Madison Choral Project for their upcoming 2019-2020 concert season.
An accomplished soloist, Jessica has performed solo works with the Present Music, Madison Bach Musicians, Oshkosh Chamber Singers, the South Shore Chorale, Waupaca Civic Orchestra and Chorus, UW Choral Union, UW Symphony Orchestra, UW Oshkosh Choirs, and the UW Oshkosh Symphony Orchestra. Her singing has also been heard on WPR programs such as “University of the Air”, "On Higher Ground" and "The Midday."
In 2014, she was one of 11 teachers chosen to attend the "The Naked Voice Institute" at Northwestern University studying directly with Prof. W. Stephen Smith. As a clinician, Dr. Timman Schwefel has given master classes and presentations at UW-Eau Claire, UW-Whitewater, as well as many high schools across the state of Wisconsin. Additionally, Dr. Timman Schwefel is an active promoter of music by the composer Paul Bowles. She has produced a critical edition of Bowles’s unpublished songs, presented lectures about Bowles’s musical output, and performed many of his works.
Dr. Timman Schwefel has been the recipient of numerous awards including the Voice Excellence Wisconsin Distinguished Graduate Fellowship, Opera Props award, and Dara Welty Memorial Award at UW. She was also a recipient of a UW Oshkosh Professional Development Grant in 2014. Dr. Timman is a member of the American Guild of Musical Artists (AGMA) and the National Association of Teachers of Singing (NATS). She serves as member-at-large on the board of the Wisconsin Chapter of NATS and is the marketing manager for Madison Choral Project.
