Jessica Catron
Founding Executive Director & Teaching Artist
My name is Jessica Catron (she/hers). I help build communities through creativity and collaboration and I play roles of executive leader, strategic partnership & program developer, courageous entrepreneur, and an arts-based innovator for positive youth development. Twenty years ago, I thought my life's work would be performing. I discovered what fulfills me was actually building programs that help others thrive. Believing in others long enough so that they begin to believe in themselves.
I am Founding Director of Grow Music Missoula, a community music school, and Founding Executive Director of Missoula Crescendo Club, a nonprofit dedicated to expanding access to music education, mentorship, and creative opportunities for young people.
Before moving to Montana, I spent 13 years in Los Angeles. First, as a freelance cellist performing with a diverse range of acclaimed artists including Nels Cline, DeVotchKa, FUN., Trevor Hall, Ladysmith Black Mambazo, Dave Matthews, Linda Ronstadt, Spiritualized, Steve Vai, Vitamin String Quartet, Scott Weiland, Wilco, and many others. I had fun opportunities performing on The Tonight Show, NBC Music Video Awards, the Coachella Music Festival, and in numerous film and commercial soundtracks. Los Angeles is an inspiring place to be an artist.
My passion for education began as the first Lead Cello Teaching Artist for the Los Angeles Philharmonic's YOLA (Youth Orchestra Los Angeles) program. Since then, I’ve led an array of workshops throughout the United States, Canada, New Zealand, and Colombia, and now I dedicate my career to using music as a tool for positive youth development, community connection, and creative empowerment and well-being.
Still a performer, I particularly enjoy creating sound art installations and working in collaborative projects. I’ve served as Artist-in-Residence at the UCLA Hammer Museum and have cultivated sound pieces through Missoula Open AIR, the Clark Chateau in Butte, and through the Montana Cultural Trust. I sit in with the String Orchestra of the Rockies and, in the summer months, I love playing cello at outdoor weddings with The Receptionists Music, surrounded by the exquisite beauty of Montana.
Over the past decade, I’ve cultivated Grow Music into a thriving, inclusive music school serving students of all ages and abilities. Through the Missoula Crescendo Club, I have secured multi-year partnerships with national institutions like the Los Angeles Philharmonic and Carnegie Hall to bring innovative, accessible programming—like the Montana Well-Being Concerts—to the regional community. In addition to director duties, I serve as an innovative facilitator, creative advisor, and program visionary for non-profits, artists, and educators, offering guidance in mission alignment, sustainability, and community-centered leadership.
My personal time is enjoyed by sitting around campfires, attending primitive skills gatherings, learning about plants, finding ways to reuse everything, and exploring new and wild places with my wonderful family.
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