people

Cellist and board member Jessica Sarros gave us the scoop on her involvement with the ESO ...

You are a volunteer, donor and musician with the Elmhurst Symphony! How long have you been connected with us and how did you get started? 

I've been a cellist in the Elmhurst Symphony for 10 years and started on the board about a year and half ago.

What is your favorite part of being involved with ESO? 

The Elmhurst Symphony is such an important part of our community for both our patrons but also the community musicians who love the opportunity to play great orchestral music and build relationships with fellow musicians. I love being a part of the board representing the perspective of the musicians while also drawing on my professional background working in strategy and technology for JPMorgan Chase & Co.

What instrument do you play and how did you gravitate to that instrument? 

I play the cello and come from a family of musicians. My mom is a cellist, where she studied at Indiana University, even under Janos Starker at one point. Growing up, there were always music lessons happening or instruments being played at home, but I've always preferred the cello. In hindsight I wish I had listened to my mom and kept up my piano lessons too!

What piece is on your bucket list to play with ESO and why? 

I'd love to play anything by Florence Price. After her music was rediscovered about 15 years ago, I think we're rediscovering an important part of 20th century music history.

Biography

I am an Executive Director at JPMorgan Chase & Co. where I lead the Global Events Strategy team across multiple lines of business. Our strategy team's main area of responsibility is the implementation and management of our end-to-end events management technology platform. I love using technology and data to help the business make smarter events decisions, enhance our client experience, and enable our event planners to be as efficient and effective as possible.

I've been in the Events industry for over 15 years, both on the planning and business management sides and have my MBA from the Kelley School of Business at Indiana University. For my undergrad, I double-majored in Music and Business at Illinois Wesleyan University.

I live in La Grange with my husband, Arin, and two sons, Henry (8) and Benjamin (4). Thanks to them I also have a sizable knowledge of dinosaurs and considerable experience building (and cleaning up) legos.