Andre Jebbinson, Staff Reporter
Violinist Jessica Yap at home. - CONTRIBUTED
YOUNG MUSIC genius Jessica Yap plays the violin and has reached an height that most youngsters her age can only imagine. The calm Yap is seemingly reserved and quiet, but produces the opposite with her violin. She is now a known figure in Jamaica and is attacking the international arena like a lioness would its prey.
While other infants might have been more interested in dolls and fire engines, she saw a picture of a violin in The Gleaner and told her mother she was interested in learning how to play it.
Now with her new found joy, Yap started to develop her talent when she went to the Suzuki Music Camp in the United States. That is where she met her current artistic coach, Miriam Stern. She now has the help of technical coach Carol Cole and her mother, who is also a part-time piano teacher, to help her. "She comes to some of the classes and sometimes learn more than me," Jessica said.
A hobby like Yap's is demanding as it requires consistency. She practises for at least two hours daily but sometimes has other responsibilities and can only practise for 30 minutes.
US PERFORMANCES
Yap recently returned from Washington DC and Virginia, U.S.A., where she was featured in the line-up for the Franciscan Ministries charity show. The young music genius has also made numerous local appearances. One of her most recent performance was a selection she played at Prime Minister Portia Simpson Miller's inaugural ball.
Jessica now has a part scholarship to attend a music camp at Indiana University to study with Mimi Zweig, who taught the famous violinist Joshua Bell. Yap also has an award for being the most outstanding junior performer in the biennial Jamaica Music Teacher's Festival for three consecutive years.
The second former at Campion likes to read. The humble Yap describes herself as an average performer in academics, but averages over 90 per cent. "I do tennis and I should do a club, but those are boring," she said. She also explained that she is skipping some extra curricular activities to prepare for her upcoming journey abroad. Jessica will not finish the rest of the school semester as she will be leaving this month, June.
"I used to play the piano for fun sometimes and play with my dog Asia." She said she also watches a lot of television. She wants to study medicine after she is done with Campion.
