Jen began playing the piano in the second grade. Although she enjoyed learning classical pieces, sometimes she would write her own songs instead of practicing her assigned lesson. Thus began her love of writing lyrics and melodies. She wrote her first song in the seventh grade and hasn't stopped since.
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"Yellow Roses," a song Jen co-wrote with Nashville songwriter Bob Farrell, became the Grand Prize Winner in the country category of the 2005 Session-I John Lennon Songwriting Contest. Actor and musician, Kevin Bacon, a contest judge, said: "My vote is 'Yellow Roses.' I think it's the all-around best country song. Hooky, simple, well-constructed and clever."
January 2007, "Yellow Roses" won an honorable mention in the country category of the 2006 SongDoor International Songwriting Competition.
BIOGRAPHY
Jen began playing the piano in the second grade. Although she enjoyed learning classical pieces, sometimes she would write her own songs instead of practicing her assigned lesson. Thus began her love of writing lyrics and melodies. She wrote her first song in the seventh grade and hasn't stopped since.
During the summer of 1994, Jen attended Berklee College of Music in Boston, Mass. In 1999, she graduated from Syracuse University in Syracuse, N.Y., as an S.I. Newhouse Scholar with a major in magazine journalism and minors in music industry, English and textual studies. She studied voice there with Janet Brown. While abroad for a semester in London, England, she studied with Jenny Tatum, who trains performers in the West End Theatre District. Her current vocal coach is Badiene Magaziner in New York City.
Jen began to play the guitar during the summer of 1998, and in June 2002, she completed a songwriting course with Pat Pattison of Berklee College of Music in Boston, Mass. She is an ASCAP member.
"Yellow Roses," a song Jen co-wrote with Nashville songwriter Bob Farrell, became the Grand Prize Winner in the country category of the 2005 Session-I John Lennon Songwriting Contest. Actor and musician, Kevin Bacon, a contest judge, said: "My vote is 'Yellow Roses.' I think it's the all-around best country song. Hooky, simple, well-constructed and clever." The prizes included $5,500 worth of musical equipment. In January 2006, she performed the song on the stage set up in front of the John Lennon Education Tour Bus at the NAAM Show in Anaheim, Calif.
On May 1, 2006, Jen performed "Yellow Roses" at the ASCAP Writer's Showcase at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C. Her song was one of 12 winning songs submitted by songwriters from the Mid-Atlantic region. The showcase followed a one-hour interview, where Michael Kerker, vice president for musical theatre at ASCAP, spoke with Stephen Schwartz, the host for the event. Mr. Schwartz is best known for composing the Broadway shows Godspell, Pippin, and Wicked. He also won Academy Awards for his musical contributions to the movies Pocahontas and The Prince of Egypt.
In October 2006, Jen sang at the Embassy of Rwanda for "Through the Eyes of Hope," an exhibit of Linda Smith's photography. Rwandan musician Jean Paul Samputu also performed.
In January 2007, "Yellow Roses" won an honorable mention in the country category of the 2006 SongDoor International Songwriting Competition.