Jessica Ulusoy-Horsley

Jessica Ulusoy-Horsley is a British-Swiss composer, conductor, violist/barytonist, and researcher. In her compositions, she explore the thresholds between cultures, languages, and spiritual traditions. Her recent large-scale works are distinguished by their depth, beauty, and contemporary relevance.

Jessica's compositional voice is distinctive and eclectic, drawing on influences from the British choral tradition to Arabic maqām, from Renaissance polyphony to contemporary sonic textures. Her works often include multiple languages and explore the (acoustic) nature of spatialised sound. Central to her practice is the human voice—as a medium for personal and collective experience, and as an instrument of memory, connection and healing. Her works are both intellectually grounded and profoundly expressive.

Jessica started composing seriously during the first Covid-19 lockdown. Her first recorded composition, Songs of Songs, was released in 2021 on an album of the award-winning vocal sextet Singer Pur. A first portrait CD of her choral works by Tenebrae, conducted by Nigel Short, marks a significant milestone in her growing international career as a composer.

As a conductor, Jessica has worked with the BBC Concert Orchestra, Kammerorchester Basel, the Basel Sinfonietta, Plovdiv State Opera, the Bohuslav Martinů Philharmonic and 900, as well as for the Swiss radio networks Rete Due and SRF2 and for the BBC. Before swapping bow for baton, she performed regularly with various European Early Music ensembles. As a performer of contemporary music, she has championed repertoire for the little-known baryton, collaborating with musicians such as Tanja Teztlaff, Peter Rundel, Heinz Holliger, and with groups such as Collegium Novum Zürich, Contrechamps, and the Ensemble Modern. 

Jessica completed a doctorate at the University of Tübingen in History of Art and Musicology. In addition to her monograph on the Blaue Reiter (Blue Rider) Almanac, she has published on visual sources, cultural history and the Modernist period.