Musician

Jen currently writes and performs with Minneapolis-based folk pop trio Lingua Luna, though her musical roots sprouted long ago.

Photo by Rhea Pappas

As a little girl captivated by public television and the symphony concerts they’d air, Jen quickly developed a keen desire to play the violin. She began formal classical violin training at the age of ten and quickly went on to play in the Milwaukee Youth Symphony Orchestra (MYSO) and win several state level solo and ensemble medals and awards. Though enjoying her time with Beethoven and Strauss, Jen’s biggest joy came when playing fiddle and bluegrass music with her dad.  Around this time she added the mandolin to her arsenal of instruments – a campfire favorite! Shortly before starting high school, Jen taught herself to play the viola in order to join an award-winning string quartet. With the viola she found a new love and a sound she calls “the voice of (her) soul.”

She put music on a shelf for a few years after playing in the campus orchestra only one semester at the U of MN. Her theater and acting career took center stage. When one of her college professors began preparing for a move to New Zealand, Jen gladly took a guitar off his hands for $50 and thus began her song writing. After learning a few chords by covering songs like Eliot Smith’s 2:45am, Jen began writing her own songs as a way to learn the instrument while finding a new voice. Theater and music began to collide when she teamed with former UMN Theatre Arts colleague Rhiannon Fisk to start Lingua Luna with Annie Jane Reierson. The trio has since played with Gremlin Theatre, Theatre Pro Rata, Tedious Brief, and the Classical Actors Ensemble. As a solo artist, Jen has also played fiddle with the Actor’s Theater of MN.

With Lingua Luna, Jen also picked-up the bass to round out her musical menagerie. Oh, and she sings too.