Jessica Leary
Singer, Teacher, Examiner, Researcher: Currently a PhD candidate at RCS (supported by a Carnegie Trust PhD Scholarship) — Exploring the notions of identity, status, and value in outreach from the perspective of the professional opera singer.
Described as ‘a polished and radiant soprano’ (Opera Magazine), Jessica has performed throughout the UK and abroad with companies including Scottish Opera, Bayreuth Festival, Grange Festival Opera, Buxton International Festival, Iford Arts, Dunedin Consort, RedNote Ensemble, BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra, and OAE Choir, and at venues and festivals such as BBC London Proms, Edinburgh International Festival, St Magnus Festival, Wigmore Hall, and Barbican Centre.
Jessica joined the vocal department as a lecturer at RCS in 2023 and also teaches on several academic modules for the BMus and BEd programmes. She holds further teaching posts at the Universities of St Andrews and Edinburgh and has previously worked with the National Youth Choirs of Scotland and Great Britain, the Royal Scottish National Orchestra Junior Chorus, and St Mary’s Music School, Edinburgh. As an examiner for the ABRSM, she works across the UK and internationally.
Passionate about music education, Jessica works regularly with the education and outreach departments of Scottish Opera and Dunedin Consort, with key recent projects including BREATH CYCLE, a programme for people with lung-health conditions (shortlisted for the Classical:NEXT Innovation Award 2025) and the co-creation of SOPHIE AND BEAR, a new children’s opera commission, both for Scottish Opera.
Jessica’s doctoral research builds directly upon this work, exploring the lived experiences of professional singers working in outreach contexts. It is supported in full by a Carnegie Trust PhD Scholarship, with affiliated output including a publication for Australia Voice Journal (2023) and paper presentations at the Spheres of Singing conferences (2020 & 2022) and OBERTO Conference (2023).
Jessica holds a First-Class Honours degree in Music from the University of Edinburgh, and a Masters degree with Distinction from the Alexander Gibson Opera School (RCS) and undertook further study as an international exchange student at the Melbourne Conservatorium of Music. She was the recipient of several awards as a student, including the Bruce Millar Award, Robertson Trust Scholarship and Ye Cronies Opera Prize, and was a Britten Pears Scholar and Samling Scholar.