Jessica grew up on the traditional territory of the Səl̓ílwətaʔ/Selilwitulh (Tsleil-Waututh) on the West Coast. She started dancing, singing, and acting at a young age, competing at a high level in dance, acting, and voice, she performed in Spain, Carnegie Hall, and the Vancouver Fringe Festival before receiving a full scholarship to Capilano University's Jazz Studies program. After completing her diploma she went on to Simon Fraser University where she studied Communication and Anthropology, diving into the relationship between sensory ethnography and art. Now, Jessica combines her knowledge with her passion for music, story, and movement to be the change she wants to see in the world. She is currently in her Masters of Peacebuilding and Human Security at Royal Roads University and is interested in the role of art in inclusive societies. She's humbled to have worked with Clyde Mitchell and the Lionsgate Sinfonia, Len Aruliah, Rika Siewert, Cherine Amr, and Sari Alesh, amongst many others to put together meaningful musical performances.

 

Jessica Heaven is a Canadian performer who crosses genres to create meaningful and powerful art forms. She has had the pleasure of working with Juno Award-winning composer Jordan Nobles on multiple occasions, including the Canada Music Week in 2012 and his project "Chiaroscuro". She has worked in Film and TV for over a decade and had the privilege of doing stand-in work for Anna Kendrick on Disney's "Noelle". She has appeared on "Level Up", "Mr. Young", "Riverdale" and many more productions. She was the Musical Director for the Deep Cove Theatre Society's 2021 Pantomime, "Frosted" which was nominated for an Ovation Award from the APPLAUSE! Musicals Society. She has self-produced multiple albums including "Primal Navigation" with Ptriodactyl; "Caught in a Memory"; "A Descartes Christmas Volume 1 & 2", and "Descartes for Sheila" honouring Sheila Jordan. She is the Chair of the Women in Jazz Association of BC (also known as Sister Jazz) and their blog supervisor. She is a board delegate for the Seattle Women in Jazz and sits on the leadership team for the Sister Jazz Orchestra. She is a Cofounder and Artistic Director of the HEARTBEAT project where she is working with visual art for her graphic notation compositions to explore inclusivity in musical composition. 

Currently, Jessica is beginning prep for her mixed media performance "Into the Witch", collaborating with 240 Northern's Greg Samek on this as well as other musical projects and mixed media exhibitions. She will be recording her first all originals album later this year, as well as a memorial project for her late father Michael Heaven. Jessica is also the North Vancouver School District Dance Academy Coordinator, as well as instructor and Communications Director of Seymour Dance. She currently resides and works on the unceded territories of the Coast Salish peoples–Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish), Stó:lō and Səl̓ílwətaʔ/Selilwitulh (Tsleil-Waututh) and xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam) Nations.