Jena Vangjel

Session: Authentic Community Engagement: Using Music as a Tool for Connection with Non-Traditional Audiences 

Jena Vangjel is a dynamic freelance trumpeter, teaching artist, and arts administrator located in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. She has performed with orchestras across the country, including the Los Angeles Philharmonic, New World Symphony, Alabama Symphony, Tucson Symphony, and the Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestra. Vangjel is fiercely passionate about using music to create community. She got her start in this work as a musician and administrator with Street Symphony in Los Angeles, CA. In the summer of 2018, Vangjel participated in a series of recitals in Japan, performing for still-displaced victims of the devastating 2011 tsunami. In the fall of 2018, Vangjel founded Community of Note–an organization committed to fostering community and relationship through music. Community of Note has a strong partnership with the Capital Area Alliance for the Homeless, where the majority of its programming takes place, reaching the city’s most underserved citizens. Most recently, Vangjel has been part of a grant project in conjunction with the Arts Council of Greater Baton Rouge where she works extensively with elderly citizens, using music and creative dramatics to foster health, openness, and quality of life. Vangjel is also a teaching artist with the The Manship Theatre, bringing music education opportunities to under-resourced schools. She holds a Master of Music degree in Trumpet Performance from The Colburn School in Los Angeles, CA, and a Bachelor of Music degree from the University of Missouri-Kansas City Conservatory.