Jessica Bodner, viola

Jessica, described by the New York Times as a “soulful soloist”, is the violist of the Grammy award-winning Parker Quartet. She began her musical studies on the violin at the age of two, then switched to the viola at the age of twelve because of her love of the deeper sonority. 

Jessica has recently appeared at venues such as Carnegie Hall, 92nd Street Y, Library of Congress, Concertgebouw, Wigmore Hall, Musikverein, Philadelphia Chamber Music Society, and Seoul Arts Center, and has appeared at festivals including Edinburgh International Festival, Chamber Music Northwest, Chamberfest Cleveland, Lake Champlain Chamber Music Festival, Yellow Barn, Perigord Noir in France, Monte Carlo Spring Arts Festival, San Miguel de Allende, Istanbul’s Cemal Recit Rey, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Hitzacker, and Heidelberg String Quartet Festival. As a member of the Parker Quartet, she has recorded for ECM Records, Zig-Zag Territoires, Nimbus, and Naxos. 

Jessica is a faculty member of Harvard University’s Department of Music as Professor of the Practice in conjunction with the Parker Quartet’s appointment as Blodgett Quartet-in-Residence. She has held visiting faculty positions at the New England Conservatory and Longy School of Music, served as faculty at the Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity and Yellow Barn Festival, and has given masterclasses at institutions such as Eastman School of Music, San Francisco Conservatory, Amherst College, University of Minnesota, and at the El Sistema program in Venezuela. 

Outside of music, Jessica enjoys cooking, running, practicing yoga, and hiking with her husband, violinist Daniel Chong, their son, Cole, and their vizsla, Bodie.