Prior to her tenure with the Memphis Symphony, Ms. Puckett completed three years with the New World Symphony Orchestral Academy in Miami Beach, Florida. During the time that Ms. Puckett was a member of the New World Symphony, they performed in Carnegie Hall in New York City, and in Rome, Italy at the Academia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia.

Originally trained as a violinist, Ms. Puckett received her Bachelors degree in violin performance from the University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa. She has also attended various summer music festivals such as the Brevard Music Center, Sewanee Summer Music Center, Meadowmount School of Music, National Repertory Orchestra, Sarasota Music Festival, Spoleto USA, and the Aspen Music Festival.

The Aspen Music Festival led her to the University of Colorado in Boulder where she received her Masters degree in viola performance. Ms. Puckett held graduate teaching assistantships for the three years that she was at the University of Colorado, including being a member of the graduate string quartet.

Teaching is also a big part of Ms. Puckett's career. During the summer, she holds a viola faculty position with the Eastern Music Festival in Greensboro, North Carolina. Her duties here include performing with the Eastern Philharmonic Orchestra, teaching private students, and coaching chamber music. In Memphis, Ms. Puckett holds a studio of sixteen violin and viola students, coaches one string quartet, and is a mentor at the Stax Music Academy throughout the year.

Over the years, Ms. Puckett has played professionally with many other orchestras including the Colorado Symphony, Alabama Symphony, Missouri Symphony Society, Tuscaloosa Symphony, Tupelo Symphony, and the Central City Opera. In addition to her new position with the Memphis Symphony, her leadership experience includes principal viola with the 2005 Mahlerfest in Boulder, Colorado, numerous occasions with the New World Symphony, and throughout her college career as concertmaster, principal second violin, and principal viola.

Jennifer Puckett, Principal Viola

First Season with the MSO: 2005-2006

Some facts about Jennifer:

Her hobbies:  Jennifer loves Bikram yoga, cooking, tennis, home improvement projects, and fine wine.

If she hadn't become a musician, she might have gone into: Interior design

Her Favorite Book:  The World According to Garp

Her Favorite Memphis Restaurant:  Sekesui Pacific Rim and Le Chardonnay

Her Dream Vacation:  There are many places in the world that I would like to go to including Hawaii, Japan, Brazil, Jamaica, and catching a King Salmon in Alaska.

Her worst non-musical job:  I have been extrememly lucky in that I have always been able to support myself with music. Even in college I worked in all of the local symphonies and played numerous amounts of wedding gigs. The only non-music job I had was hostessing at a five star resturant one summer in Aspen, Colorado. It was actually fun to work in a different atmosphere for a short period of time.

Her most influential teacher:  Erika Eckert. Former Cavani String Quartet member, she was my viola professor in Colorado. Erika is an amazing musician and teacher. I would not be where I am today without her.

Earliest musical memory:  When I was four, I remember watching an orchestra on the television and saying "That is what I want to do one day." After that, my next memory was a Suzuki group class where we got little clip-on bears for our bow.

Her favorite composers:  Beethoven and Bach

What she listens to in the car:  Beatles, Classic Rock, and Classical

Her favorite thing about performing:  Being right in the middle of such massive sounds of great music. Also, the constant awareness of how the viola part intertwines with all the other instruments.

Besides performing great music, she sees the orchestra's most important mission as:  Outreach. Without education, the symphony orchestral art world will be lost.