Hailed “a violinist like no other” (The New York Times), Jessica Mathaes enjoys an international career as a soloist, recording artist, educator and concertmaster.

As a concertmaster, Mathaes has led the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic, the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra, the West Australian Symphony Orchestra, the Grand Teton Music Festival Orchestra, and the Austin Symphony. She has also appeared with the Minnesota Orchestra, the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, the Houston Grand Opera and Ballet Orchestras, the Rochester Philharmonic, and the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra. In 2005 she was appointed concertmaster of the Austin Symphony, becoming both the youngest and first female concertmaster of the orchestra in its over 100-year history.

As a soloist, Mathaes has been broadcast live on Performance Today and Chicago Public Radio, and has performed throughout Singapore on a tour sponsored by the US Embassy. She has premiered works by many American composers, including two full recitals of world premieres in New York City, and has recorded the violin works of Paul Reale to critical acclaim in Gramophone. Mathaes has appeared as a soloist with the Grand Teton Music Festival Orchestra, the Austin Symphony, the Victoria Symphony, the Bismarck-Mandan Symphony, the Round Rock Symphony, the Northwest Iowa Symphony, the Masterworks Festival Orchestra, the Aberdeen Civic Symphony, the Austin Civic Orchestra and the National Music Festival Orchestra. She has released solo albums on the Naxos and Centaur labels.

A devoted educator, Mathaes currently serves on the faculty of Southwestern University, where she teaches violin, viola and chamber music. She has also been on the faculty of numerous summer festivals including the Masterworks Festival, the National Music Festival, the Hot Springs Music Festival, the International Festival-Institute at Round Top, and Credo at Oberlin.

Born in Chicago, Mathaes grew up in Omaha, Nebraska, where she was concertmaster of the Omaha Area Youth Orchestra and made her solo debut at age 16 playing the Saint-Saens Violin Concerto No. 3. She was also an award-winning pianist in her youth. Mathaes holds performance degrees from Rice University, where she graduated magna cum laude