Today we’d like to introduce you to Jenni Asher.
Jenni, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
My mom took me to a lot of orchestra concerts when I was little. When I was four, she asked me what I would like to play, and I said the violin. She made a phone call to her parents that night who offered to pay for my lessons. They ended up paying for every lesson I ever had – they paid for college. And my mom became a Suzuki mom. She started playing with me, went to every lesson, took notes, and coached me at home every day. I was playing concertos by the time I was twelve. I attribute my success to my family’s dedication.
I went to the Royal Academy of Music for a bachelor’s in violin performance and the Guildhall School of Music and Drama for a master’s in Music Leadership. I lived in London for nine years and moved home to California to marry a boy I’d met in a chat room in 1999 and I’d stayed friends with. He gave me the courage to seek my own spiritual identity separate from the one I had been raised with (fundamental Christianity with a twist) and I converted to Judaism.
I live in North Hollywood with my hubby, our one-year-old dare-devil daughter, and our very quiet dog. My work is a mix of myofascial release therapy for performing artists, recording string parts, teaching private violin lessons, and playing viola in the nearly all-black Inner City Youth Orchestra of Los Angeles. Musician Bodywork (my hands-on therapy company) began in concept when I was a teenager with tendonitis. I knew I wanted to become an informed go-between for injured musicians who want a better solution than “rest it for a month and then carry on.”
After I earned my massage certification in 2009 I became the first therapist for the Royal Academy of Music while I was still a student there. Musician Bodywork has been going ever since. I see a few clients weekly.
Has it been a smooth road?
Oh man, I wish I’d known this was the next question! as a rather insular religious kid, I homeschooled and only got out for music stuff. I was geeky and desperate to have a life bigger than the one I knew. Moving to London was more than I’d bargained for. I thought growing up in Pasadena adjacent to LA that a big city wouldn’t phase me and that in England they spoke English like I did (they didn’t).
We’d love to hear more about your work.
Most bodyworkers aren’t specialized for performing artists. Sports therapists is the closest thing. There is an organization called PAMA (performing arts medicine association) which I’m part of, that seeks to educate performing artists and treat them. In England, it exists too, called BAPAM. I wish more performing artists knew they have all these specialists they can turn to who truly understand what they do with their bodies. I also have two albums out: London (which can be found here) and Freedom (here). Freedom won an Independent Music Award in 2017.
How do you think the industry will change over the next decade?
I’m not sure about bodywork. Private teaching will remain roughly the same I think. So I’ll speak as a freelancing string player – I think we’ll have to choose to answer the call to be broader musicians or not. We need to improvise. We need to compose. We need to have a special sound. Totally gone are the days, it seems to me, where we can record our own take on a concerto and it’s enough. Personally, I’m okay with that – I love free improvising and playing in fusion ensembles more than anything else musically. But it’s a big ask. Our teachers give us classical training for twenty years and then we’re done. Hopefully, we develop other musical skills along the way. I was lucky enough to be allowed to take most of the jazz courses at the royal academy as a voice minor. I played in a samba percussion band for three years. But most string players don’t get those experiences.
I attribute my constantly seeking to a desire not to be bored. I’m now in my second year of cantorial school at the Academy of Jewish Religion and I couldn’t be happier about all the different things I do in my week.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.musicianbodywork.com | www.jenniasher.com
- Phone: 626-278-9277
- Email: [email protected]
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jenniyael
- Facebook: http://facebook.com/jenniasherartist
Image Credit:
Jeff Bandy
Amy Ciraolo
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