Jasmine “Jazzie” Pigott began to play the tuba at the age of ten after accidentally choosing the trombone and playing that for a year; she quickly excelled. As a college junior in 2018, Jasmine was invited to be a solo artist on the “Promising Artists of the 21st Century” concert series tour in Costa Rica. There, she realized her true passion for performing for people of marginalized backgrounds. Since then, Jasmine has become an activist for increasing the diversity in the field of classical music. With this mission, she has participated in several research projects, performed concerts in marginalized communities, and developed performance-based projects and presentations. In February 2020, Jasmine was awarded the first prize in the Michigan State University Running Start Competition for her grant proposal to commission composers of color to write tuba pieces in black music styles for an album. In addition to playing tuba, Jasmine is a mezzo-soprano with a voice that fits a diversity of styles. She also actively writes fiction and poetry with hopes to get published one day.
By perfecting my artistry through my passion and persistence as well as enhancing my scholarship through research projects, I seek to influence the diversity of the “classical” music field by inspiring today’s youth.
Jasmine won first prize in the Peabody Conservatory's Yale Gordon Competition in 2022. Jasmine has also been a Semi-finalist in both the 2016 International Tuba-Euphonium Conference (ITEC) Young Artist Competition, the 2017 North-Eastern Regional Tuba-Euphonium Conference (NERTEC) Artist Competition, the 2019 Ithaca College Concerto Competition, the 2019 Michigan State University Concerto Competition, the 2020 NERTEC Tuba Artist Competition, and the 2020 NERTEC Orchestra Mock Audition. She placed third in the Leonard Falcone Tuba Student Competition in 2016. In February 2020, Jasmine was awarded the first place prize in the Michigan State University Running Start Competition.
Jasmine was selected to give a solo tour in Costa Rica as part of the "Promising Artists of the 21st Century" concert series in 2018. She has performed and taught masterclasses as a guest artist in several public schools including Bates Middle School, Brentwood High School, and Southern-Cayuga High School and Middle School. During her time at Ithaca College, she was an annually featured soloist on the MLK and Black History Month concerts. More recently, in May 2022, Jasmine was a featured guest artist at Iberacademy's Resonante Festivale in Medellin and Manizales, Colombia. Beginning in 2022, Jasmine has become a guest artist with Seraph Brass.
Jasmine's research project and presentation "Come to the Dark Side: A Guide to Incorporating Black Music Styles into the Tuba Repertoire" was selected as one of ten to be presented at NERTEC 2020.
Jasmine was the key note speaker at the 2020 Michigan State University Color Me Music Black History Month Recital: "Strange Fruit: Overcoming Racial Battle Fatigue through Music."
Teaching
Jasmine was the visiting adjunct tuba professor at Ohio University for Spring 2022. She currently is a member of the faculty at the Peabody Institute's Preparatory and is a teaching artist with the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra's Orchkids program.