Jessica Payne
Assistant Director of Choral Activities
Applied Voice Instructor

Phone: 662.562.3329
Email: jpayne@northwestms.edu
Office: Heindl Center for the Performing Arts, 154

Education

D.M.A., Doctor of Musical Arts, University of Oklahoma
M.M., Master of Music, University of Mississippi
B.M.E., Bachelor of Music Education, Delta State University

Biography

Dr. Jessica Payne is the Assistant Choral Director and Applied Voice Instructor at Northwest Mississippi Community College, where she also teaches Music Appreciation courses. She brings over a decade of experience in collegiate, secondary, and elementary music education.

Dr. Payne earned her Doctor of Musical Arts from the University of Oklahoma, her Master of Music from the University of Mississippi, and her Bachelor of Music Education from Delta State University.

Before joining NWCC in 2024, Dr. Payne served as the Assistant Choir Director at Madison Central High School in Madison, MS, where she conducted the concert choir, madrigal choir, and competitive show choir. During her graduate studies, she conducted a variety of collegiate ensembles, including the OU Chorale, University of Mississippi Concert Singers, men's choruses, treble choruses, recital ensembles, and chamber choirs.

Throughout her career, Dr. Payne’s choirs and students have consistently earned superior ratings and competition placements. Her research on 18th-century Venetian women’s choirs has influenced her ongoing advocacy for expanding choral opportunities for treble singers.