About
Jenna Emilie Jaffe was born in Philadelphia to a family of artists, musicians, writers, scientists, and other interesting people of Ashkenazi Jewish descent. Her piano studies began at the age of 8. At age 13, she moved to Los Angeles County, California, where she began studying drama, singing, and composing music on the piano. At age 17, she moved to Santa Barbara, CA, furthering her education and exploring many areas of interest. She was accepted into UC Berkeley for the Rhetoric and Linguistics Program but decided to pursue music and graduated from the University of California at Santa Barbara with a Bachelor of Music Degree in Vocal Performance (with Honors Cum Laude). She was very active with the university locally and regionally, performing jazz, gospel, opera, and Middle Eastern music. Though accepted into two Master of Music Programs in Third Stream Studies and Classical Voice at New England Conservatory of Music in Boston, Jenna remained in Santa Barbara to focus on starting a family, teaching voice and piano in her private music studio, and performing regularly.
Jenna has been living gratefully (on the stolen land of the Cherokee people; ᎠᏰᎵ ᏚᏂᏚᎲ ᏣᎳᎩ, home to members of the Tsalagiyi Detsadanilvgi, ᏣᎳᎩᏱᏕᏣᏓᏂᎸᎩ, the Eastern Band of the Cherokee Indians.) in Asheville, North Carolina, for 22 years. She continues to perform, teach, compose music, and create art, as well as teach English (ESL). She also sings and coaches diction in five different languages. Jenna is committed to healing Mother Earth and all its inhabitants and dismantling racism and all inequalities through creative disciplines. She received a Tzedek Grant in 2022 for her music and art dedicated to racial equality and justice. Her other passions include trans/gender vocal and life coaching, peer counseling (NCCPSS), phonetic and drama coaching, language teaching through music, and applying spiritual therapies in her trades. Jenna is a Reiki III certified practitioner and an ordained minister. In addition to serving others, Jenna is dedicated to creating art within several disciplines, including mixed media, photography, jewelry, dance, and more. You can see and hear Jenna performing in the Asheville area in different modalities and genres (SEE EVENTS PAGE). Jenna’s art and jewelry are for sale at The Art Garden AVL.
*Board Member: Asheville Music School (2025/2026) www.ashevillemusicschool.org
*Art Garden AVL: https://www.artgardenavl.com/
*Member of RADA (River Arts District Artists) in Asheville, NC https://www.riverartsdistrict.com/
*Member of the Asheville Theater Alliance https://ashevilletheateralliance.org/
*Member of Asheville Area Piano Forum www.ashevillepiano.org
*Member MTNA and VNCMTA https://www.mtna.org/
Music Teacher for the Shalom Program at the Asheville JCC https://www.jcc-asheville.org/
Extensives resumés available upon request.