Praised for her “natural expressiveness” (Montpelier Times Argus), Dr. Jessica Powell Eig has crafted a dynamic and varied career performing on double bass, violone, and viola da gamba. She is a core member of the Washington Bach Consort and, in recent seasons, has also appeared with American Bach Soloists, Seraphic Fire, The Thirteen, Inscape Chamber Orchestra, Opera Lafayette, Washington National Cathedral Orchestra, New Orchestra of Washington, National Philharmonic, Washington Concert Opera, Urban Arias, and as a chamber music collaborator on a wide variety of projects.

In addition to her work as a performer, Jessica is active as a teaching artist and clinician. In 2022, she was appointed to the faculty of George Mason University’s Dewberry School of Music. She joined the faculty of the Chamber Music Conference and Composers’ Forum of the East in 2018 and has also served on the faculties of the Viola da Gamba Society

Conclave and International Society of Bassists Conference. She is a regular guest lecturer in double bass pedagogy at the University of Maryland. From 2013 to 2016, she was the director of the Viola da Gamba Society of America Young Players Workshop, and her writing on classroom outreach has appeared in Early Music America. She maintains an active private studio and has received grants to support her music education projects from Early Music America, the Viola da Gamba Society of America, and the Lower Manhattan Cultural Council.

In 2010, Jessica completed a Doctor of Musical Arts degree in double bass performance at SUNY-Stony Brook as a student of Joseph Carver and Kurt Muroki, where her research focused on the music of Sofia Gubaidulina. She received her earlier training at CCM, Eastman and Juilliard. Following the completion of her DMA, she pursued further private studies in historical bass with Rob Nairn. She studied viola da gamba with Christel Thielmann, James Lambert, and Martha McGaughey.

As a committed advocate for the arts, Jessica shares her expertise as a grant-writer and fundraising consultant with many established and emerging arts organizations. From 2013 to 2015, she served on the Executive Committee of the Viola da Gamba Society of America as Membership Secretary, and she currently serves on the board of the Viola da Gamba Society of Greater Washington-Baltimore. Jessica is a member of the American Federation of Musicians (Local 161-710), the International Society of Bassists (ISB), and the Viola da Gamba Society of America.