Faculty Profile

DMA, Double Bass Performance, University of Wisconsin-Madison
MM, Double Bass Performance, Yale School of Music
BM, Double Bass Performance, West Virginia University

The American double-bassist Jacqueline Pickett was born in Somerset, Pennsylvania. Her musical abilities cover a wide range of performance genres from album credits with Hip-Hop Artist Monica (The Makings of Me, 2006) to Classical recordings with the Nashville Chamber Orchestra (Conversations in Silence, 2008). Jacqueline Pickett began her career as a section bassist with the Jacksonville, Florida Symphony Orchestra. She is Principal Bassist of the Columbus, Georgia Symphony Orchestra and LaGrange Georgia Symphony Orchestra. Pickett also serves as Principal Bass of the Colour of Music International Black Classical Musicians Festival. She is an instructor at Spelman College.

Making Music That Matters

As a chamber musician, Dr. Pickett was bassist with the Nashville Chamber Orchestra (Orchestra Nashville) and Atlanta contemporary Ensemble Thamyris. Both ensembles recorded and commissioned numerous new works by composers such as Michael Torke, Tania Leon, Trey Anastasio, Alvin Singleton, Terry Riley and Pauline Oliveros. Both Riley (Khayal.) and Oliveros (New Circle Five) invited Pickett to tour with them after hearing her perform their compositions in concert with Thamyris. She has also performed and recorded with the Ritz Chamber Players.

As principal bass of the Nashville Chamber Orchestra, Pickett was a guest of Trey Anastasio at the Bonnaroo Music festival and participated in several recording sessions of his works. She has given solo double-bass lecture-recitals in Johannesburg, South Africa, and universities throughout the USA. She continues to present concerts with her American Roots Music Trio (with Violinist Diane Monroe and Jazz Tap Dancer/Folklorist Scholar Germaine Ingram), La Grange Trio (with violinist/violist Lorna Wood and violinist Tian-Xu Watson) and Pickett/Williams jazz duo on current social issues.

Early in her career, as an assistant professor of music at Auburn University, Pickett worked extensively with Snow-Hill, Alabama pianist Consuela Lee in the Lee-Pickett Jazz Duo. This duo performed throughout the state of Alabama, bringing in jazz legends, Max Roach and Milt Jackson to rural Alabama to share their artistry with generally isolated communities.

Serving the Community and Spreading the Joy of Music

Community revitalization is at the heart of Pickett’s current activities as a performing artist. To this end, she is passionately involved in music education for at-risk youth and community building via music participation. From 2012-2018, Pickett served as the founder and president of TORCH (Together, Orchestras Revitalize Community Harmony) Academy, a 501(c)(3) tax-exempt non-profit organization dedicated to providing formal music studies and life skills to at–risk and underserved youth. Dr. Pickett is president/founder of the League of Women Bass Players, incorporated 2021,  a nonprofit organization of acoustic and electric bassists worldwide.

Pickett is a visiting artist at Pontifical Javeriana University in Bogota, Colombia (2018-date) and Brandies University, Boston (February 2016). She has presented lecture recitals about the music of American composer John E. Price at Tuskegee University (1995) and Wayne State College (1993). She currently lives in Atlanta, Georgia and is the bandleader of MA JAZZ (Metro Atlanta Women’s Jazz Society), a company that features small combos to 18-piece big bands that feature women artists.