A Lyrical Way to Remember

– By Robin Jovanovich –

After reading an article about how area families remember those they lost in the Sept. 11 attacks, Jesseca Turner couldn't stop thinking about the one little boy who, every year on that day, releases a white balloon, tied with a note to his father, into the sky. Jess, as she is called, started writing lyrics about it and, last fall, recorded “Dust Angels” in memory of all who were lost that day.

“When I composed it, I was trying to find a haunting, yet beautiful sound, something that expressed sorrow but was hopeful at the same time,” said Jess, a junior at Rye High School. She's hoping that her ballad will make a difference in the lives of Rye families, and has reached out to the Rye Sept. 11 Memorial Committee, which is raising funds to build a bridge across Blind Brook and memorial on the Village Green.

Jess says she could easily get a group of RHS students involved to make a DVD slide show of the artwork they created for the fifth anniversary of Sept. 11, with “Dust Angels” as the background music. “There are a number of really talented musicians at Rye High who may also want to make musical contributions."

At Rye High, Jess is a member of the orchestra and quartet. She's also co-editor of Zephyr. She plays in the Greater Westchester Youth Orchestra, which recently performed another of her compositions, “Hourglasses.” It was a proud moment for her because it was the first time the orchestra had performed the work of a student.

An accomplished cellist and pianist, Jess also sings, plays the guitar and writes classical music. “I have about 15 pieces of music in my head all the time,” she says brightly. As a child, she'd come home from school and go straight to the piano and write songs, says her mother, Jeri, who played in a baroque quartet as a young woman. “I encouraged Jess to follow her heart and do what she loved, and she does.”

The poised 16-year-old also dances with NewDance and assists director Edwin Lee Gibson with the Rye Arts Center theater program over the summer. Last summer, she was one of seven (and the only girl) accepted into Northwestern University's composition program. Last week, she was thrilled to learn that she's been accepted into the Tanglewood Institute's composition program. “It's going to be a challenge, but I'm definitely up for it. I hope to grow a lot as a composer while I'm there this summer.”