“When Jessie recently passed through Sacramento, where I live, we decided to film this conversation in my living room. We talked about our journeys through these past complicated years, trying to balance the hard work and thinking about what comes next. Jessie was named 2023 Composer of the Year by Musical America, and she says she feels a responsibility to use her platform to support her peers and to model creative freedom for the next generation. She wants to speak her truth — to make work that reflects her own voice, her own version of today and her vision for the future.”