A VESSEL OF MANY VOICES

Moonlight Forest
Nuit Blanche, Kelowna
2024

WHAT EVEN IS SINGING

It's tough to articulate how my vocal journey has unfolded, but I have come to believe that the voice is inseparable from the soul. Once I began to see the parallel between 'lessons 'n blessin's' happening in my personal life, as well as my 'vocal' life, it became clear that singing, performing, and being Jessie were deeply intertwined.

I took private lessons since childhood, but enjoyed singing more with others than alone. It wasn't until embarking on a nomadic pet-sitting adventure in 2018, that I had to come to terms with my solo voice.

Being without friends, without choir, or a cappella groups was a confronting and isolating experience. Of course, everyone got a taste of this the following year due to COVID-19. It gave me the chance to ask myself---"What can I do with just me?" if I don't feel drawn to being a 'singer-songwriter' or a jazz 'front-woman' or an opera singer, then what is left? Is improvising by myself interesting enough? Or is it too much? WHAT EVEN IS SINGING? And why do I need to do it so badly?

I feel most inside of music when I can be a vessel for a multitude of voices. I used to get so frustrated when I was younger about being indecisive with what my 'sound' was, but ever since I embraced my many timbres, tones, and techniques, I have never sung so freely.

Joni Mitchell & Judy Garland Tribute
Kelowna Fringe
2021

Looks Like Sounds
Nuit Blanche, Kelowna
2022

Introspection: Piano and Other Sounds
Eliseo Santillan's Concert, Kelowna
2024

22 ROOMS
Living Things Festival Kelowna
2025

Celestial Forest

Arts on the Avenue, Kelowna
2024

Island of Misfit Toys

Kelowna

2023

YOURS IN HARMONY

jessie-rivest-ripple-effect-barbershop-quartet-medalist.jpg

Ripple Effect at BinG! World Mixed Barbershop Competition

Munich, Germany
2018

KEEP THE WHOLE WORLD SINGING

In my first year at York U, I saw WIBI a cappella sing Don't Stop Believing by Journey, and someone did a guitar solo with their voice. I was stunned. I knew I had to make weird sounds with my face. I was in the group for 5 years and it was a massive part of my post-secondary experience.

After that, I discovered barbershop music—and my first tag had me bouncing off the walls. I became addicted to dominant sevenths and hungry for the ring. The community was warm and welcoming, and the contests were absolutely exhilarating. Winning a bronze medal with my fellow singers in Ripple Effect—as the first Canadian mixed quartet to do so—was an honor I’ll never forget.

It was during a performance coaching session in preparation for BinG! that something clicked. An experience that linked sound and image sparked my fascination with the connection between perception and manifestation, launching my desire to compose for voice, and ultimately to work with energy through life coaching. Change your intention/beliefs/image/story, change the sound...create a literal ripple effect.

Oh yes, and I have done a lot of Christmas caroling....

LIKE A LOT.

Waterfront Singing Ambassadors
Toronto, ON

2016

Ripple Effect, SING FEST

Toronto, ON

2018

Kelowna Mistletones

Kelowna, BC

2022

The Current a cappella on CP24
Toronto, ON

2016

WIBI a cappella TASSIMO Commercial
Toronto, ON

2012

Paige Cora and Her Orchestra

Buffalo, NY

2014

CHOIR NERD

Element Choir, Toronto Island
Toronto, ON

2017

THE BLENDSHIP IS REAL

Classical, gospel, contemporary, experimental, cinematic, competitive, just for fun, getting paid in pizza, stagger breathing, blending, raising eyebrows, just-intonation, warm-ups... All of the choir things have strengthened my musicianship as well as my bandwidth for complexity and empathy.

There is something cosmic, some deep eternal truth that comes from singing as a group. Each person holding their own part, simultaneously adjusting ever so slightly to everyone else's parts, all while honoring the music. Telling a story together is the most beautiful real-life metaphor of the collective conscious.

I once heard someone say, "The world would be a better place if everyone did martial arts, had a garden, and sang in a choir."