Jessica Hellwege

Jessica Cheng Hellwege was born and raised in Arlington, Texas and moved to Los Angeles to earn her Bachelor of Music degree at University of Southern California Thornton School of Music, where she studied with Alice Schoenfeld. After receiving her bachelor’s in 2004, she earned her Master of Music from USC in 2006 and was named Outstanding Graduate-Class of 2006.

In addition to being a regular substitute with the Pacific Symphony Orchestra, Hellwege was the Assistant Concertmaster of the Santa Barbara Symphony. She was also a member of Germany’s prestigious Schleswig-Holstein Musik Festival for five summers, where she served as concertmaster and principal. Since 2023, Hellwege has been playing in the Sun Valley Music Festival Orchestra. Other music festivals previously attended include New York Strings Seminar, Encore School for Strings, and Mimir Chamber Music Festival.

Hellwege began her first season with the SLSO’s First Violin section in the fall of 2009. She regularly plays with the Chamber Music Society of St. Louis, as well as the Ariel Concert series. She is married to Pete, a firefighter, and enjoys woodworking in her free time.