Jessica Frances Torres, a 2024 and 2025 Grammy Music Educator Award Quarter-Finalist and a 2025 Grammy Legacy Finalist, is a Puerto Rican–Dominican-American musician and educator, born and raised in New York City. She serves as Orchestra Director for grades 7–12 at Elmont Memorial Junior–Senior High School in Long Island, New York, a National Blue Ribbon School of Excellence. Under her direction, the students of Elmont Memorial perform for events throughout New York, Washington, D.C., and Boston, showcasing diverse multicultural orchestral works across a wide variety of genres, including jazz, Brazilian, classical, and pop.
Torres graduated from Hofstra University in 2007 with a Master’s Degree in Curriculum Design in Jazz and Multicultural Music. While completing her degree, she developed and implemented curriculum ideas under the guidance of Dr. David Lalama and Dr. Nathalie Robinson. In 2012, Torres developed the orchestral curriculum for the Sewanhaka Central High School District, which has been implemented at Elmont Memorial High School infuses jazz and multicultural music into traditional classical repertoire.
In January 2022, Torres founded the Elmont Global Jazz Orchestra, an innovative ensemble that blends orchestral string instruments with traditional big band instrumentation while exploring global musical traditions. Through this ensemble, students experience a modern approach to jazz performance that emphasizes cultural inclusivity and stylistic diversity. Torres presented this pedagogical model at the 2025 Jazz Education Network Conference with the session “Now’s the Time: Creating an Inclusive Global Jazz Environment for Band, Vocal, and String Students.” She will present this work again at the 2026 NYSSMA Biennial Conference at Hofstra University.

Her students continue to thrive under her leadership and have received recognition from the National Association for Music Education (NAfME), the New York State School Music Association (NYSSMA), and the Nassau Music Educators Association (NMEA). Students have also been recognized nationally through the National High School Musical Theatre Awards (The Jimmy Awards), including former student Ekele Ukegbu, winner for Aida in 2019. The Elmont Global Jazz Orchestra received an honor performance and award at the 2023 NYSSMA Winter Conference and were invited to open for Branford Marsalis at the inaugural Tilles Summer Jazz Festival in July 2024.

Torres is also an active performer as a flautist and woodwind doubler on saxophone and clarinet. She performs with the Metropolitan Music Community and various musical theater productions and ensembles throughout the Tri-State area. Her performances include Carnegie Hall under the direction of Brian Worsdale and international tours with The Long Island Winds under the direction of James McRoy, including performances at the Sydney Opera House and Sydney Town Hall in Australia. In 2025, Torres was inducted as a member of the Grammy Recording Academy.

As a classical, contemporary, and jazz flutist, Torres has studied with Patricia Spencer, Susan Glaser, Jan Vinci, Wendy Rohl, New York Philharmonic flutist Renee Siebert, Brazilian flutist and composer Fernando Brandão, and jazz artist, educator, and author Sarpay Özçagatay. In 2016, she traveled to Valencia, Spain to perform and study jazz with Alan Chase, Victor Mendoza, and Alon Yavnai through a Berklee College of Music performance program focused on Latin jazz, which led to continued studies through Berklee College of Music in Boston.