February 9, 2021
Story and photos by Joe Vinduska
As a little girl in Mexico, six-year-old Jessica Perez spent many days in her Aunt Ana’s dance class practicing with the other students, until one day, someone handed her a microphone and she started singing along with the dance numbers. She remembers that day vividly as the beginning of a love for music that would guide her journey through life, and now she is sharing that love with others as a Vocal Instructor at Barton Community College.
“Music is a universal language that everyone can understand and communicate with,” she said. “I love the therapeutic side of it and how it has the power to evoke complex emotions such as melancholy, but it also comforts us and makes us feel empathy towards ourselves.”
Perez quickly realized that music was her true passion and performed any chance she had. She studied and performed at the Music Conservatory in Mexico where she also learned Italian before moving to the United States in 2011 and came to Barton.
“English was actually my third language!” she said. “I had an outstanding English teacher and I was speaking fluently by the end of the semester.”
Perez said learning English wasn’t the only challenge that Barton helped her overcome.
“I was a first-generation student and I always wanted to pursue a college degree but did not have the money to do it,” she said. “Barton not only offered me scholarships, but also an appropriate environment with limited class sizes within a diverse community where I met students from all around the world and wonderful teachers that truly cared about the students.”
While at Barton, she grew as a performer and received a full-ride scholarship to Wichita State University and graduated from WSU in 2017 with a bachelor’s degree in vocal performance. She is now pursuing a master’s degree in music education, which she will finish this spring.
Her love for performing was always obvious to her, but her love for teaching developed over time as she worked with other musicians.
“I wanted to share my passion with those that wanted to know more about music,” she said. “I found out that I had an ability to make things simple to understand, so I decided to explore teaching more and I loved it.”
Perez enthusiastically returned to Barton in August 2020 as the vocal instructor.
“I wanted to come back and be part of that again, to help students develop their potential to the fullest and to help them find their purpose with music. Music is a difficult career and you need to be 200% committed to it if you really want to pursue it. Many doors will close for you, and many may tell you ‘no.’ You will need to stay resilient and one day you will knock on the right door and it will open for you.”
Throughout her career Perez has sang with world-renowned vocalists and ensembles including the Wichita Grand Opera, State Choir of Zacatecas, Zacatecas Opera Company, Symphonic Band Chorus of Zacatecas, Barton Hilltop Singers, Wichita Grand Opera, Banda Hispanica, Oh la la Jazz ensemble, Concert Opera of Central Kansas and Music Theatre Wichita.
Even with all her experience she said she still gets the butterflies before performances and encourages vocalists to not let nerves discourage them.
“I am nervous all the time in every performance, but that is part of the adrenaline and it always helps me perform well,” she said. “To me performing is an opportunity to share someone’s art and communicate their ideas. I consider myself the means by which composers communicate their art. I do my best to convey their art.
To sign up for voice lessons email Perez at perezj@bartonccc.edu or call (620) 792-9289. For more information on the Barton Music Department, visit music.bartonccc.edu.