Oboist Jennifer Bernard has a vibrant and diverse musical life that has allowed her to perform internationally in North America, Europe, and Africa. She has been heard on National Public Radio’s Classical Guitar Alive and American Public Media’s Performance Today, as well as on PBS and at the SXSW festival in Austin, Texas. Jennifer performs frequently with the Austin Symphony and the Austin Opera Orchestra; and she currently serves as principal oboist for the Victoria Symphony and English hornist for the Corpus Christi Symphony and Central Texas Philharmonic. She has also performed with Andrea Bocelli, Nashville Symphony, Nashville Opera, El Paso Symphony Orchestra, Berkeley Symphony, Air Force Band of the West, Mid-Texas Symphony, Laredo Philharmonic, Nairobi Orchestra, and the Orquesta Sinfónica de la UANL in Monterrey, Mexico.

After seven years as instructor of music at Texas Lutheran University, Jennifer worked with the Small Victories Foundation, an organization providing artistic experiences for individuals recovering from brain injuries. In 2013, she presented a chamber performance for the GLOMUS conference in Tanzania, which lead to multiple invitations to teach and perform in East Africa. She has presented chamber recitals and taught music courses as Guest Lecturer at Tumaini University Makumira in Arusha, Tanzania, given masterclasses for the Safaricom Youth Orchestra in Nairobi, Kenya, and performed with the Nairobi Orchestra. She has also served as guest teaching artist for the University of Texas at El Paso.

Beyond classical music, Jennifer is interested in improvisation and has performed at international improvisation conferences with the ensemble Color of Sound. She loves combining musical improvisation with theatre improv and has performed with the Austin-based improv comedy troupe Confidence Men (two-time winner of B. Iden Payne Award).

Jennifer holds oboe performance degrees from Vanderbilt University and The University of Texas at Austin. She is pursuing a dual master’s degree at UT-Austin in Social Work and Public Affairs. Jennifer fell in love with ACC while taking classes during the pandemic and has wanted to be a permanent Riverbat ever since!