Jesse is a violin & piano instructor and performer based in North County San Diego.

Piano Background

Jesse began studying piano at the age of eight under the tutelage of Sandy Wang (M.A. in piano education from San Diego State University). Later, he also studied with Dr. Jane Mitzi Kolar (Professor of Piano and Piano Pedagogy at San Diego State University) from 2002-2012. Jesse received his B.M. in Music Education with an emphasis on Violin and Piano from San Diego State University in 2014.

He has performed regularly and won awards in various competitions and festivals such as the Southern California Junior Bach Festival, MTAC Winter Sonata Contests, MTAC Certificate of Merit Honors Recitals, and MTAC Piano Concerto & Solo Competitions. He was also a runner-up in the San Diego State University Concerto Competition in 2011, performing Mozart’s Piano Concerto No. 20 in D minor.

He has been teaching piano privately since 2010, and has served as a coach and hosted keyboard workshops at Harvest Evangelical Church of San Diego.

Jesse had previously served as a pianist for the worship teams at Glory Christian Church and Harvest Evangelical Church of San Diego. He currently serves as a pianist/keyboardist on the Fresh Wind Chinese Church worship team.

Violin Background

Jesse has been learning violin since the age of six. He studied under Michael Tseitlin (Professional Concert Violinist, 1st Violinist of the Composer’s Union String Quartet) and Pei-Chun Tsai (B.A. in Violin Performance from the Juilliard School of Music, and 1st Violinist for the San Diego Symphony). Jesse received his B.M. in Music Education with an emphasis on Violin and Piano from San Diego State University in 2014. He is a member of the National Association for Music Education as well as the Music Teachers’ Association of California. Jesse held positions as Principal 2nd Violinist for the Rancho Bernardo High School Symphony Orchestra from 2009-2010, and the Assistant Concertmaster for the SDSU Symphony Orchestra from 2013-2014.

Jesse is the first violinist for local string quartets, such as the Weylin Quartet and the Scarlet Quartet as well as the violist for the Impromptu String Quartet. All groups have performed in various weddings, charity performances, musicals, and other special events. Jesse was a student teacher for Orchestra at Del Norte High School from 2013-2014 and for Bands, Orchestras, and Choir at Scripps Ranch High School in 2015.

Jesse had previously served as a violinist for Glory Christian Church and Harvest Evangelical Church. He currently serves as a violinist for the Fresh Wind Chinese Church worship team.

Other Musical Experience & Background

Jesse has previously served as Director of Music at Glory Christian Church of San Diego from 2010-2012, organizing music programs for Easter services and Christmas programs.

He was also the Director of Music at Living Faith Community Church (now Rolando Church of San Diego) from 2016-2018, regularly organizing and rehearsing the music for weekly Sunday services as well as any special events for holidays.

Jesse currently serves as a Worship Leader/Administrator for Fresh Wind Chinese Church since 2015.

Awards and Accomplishments

Jesse’s arrangement and orchestration for “Gerudo Valley” was selected as first prize for SDSU’s Orchestration and Composition Competition. This was then performed by the SDSU Symphony and conducted by Jesse in 2014. Jesse’s arrangements have been used and performed at weddings and charity concerts. He has consistently received honorable mentions and superior ratings for Piano Performance in Certificate of Merit evaluations. He was also a piano finalist in San Diego’s Sonata Festivals from 2000-2009, as well as in the San Diego State University Concerto Competition in 2011.