Your Neighbor – Jennifer Chudacik

Teaching music is a career with many rewards not the least of which is the joy it gives to see students learn & grow. Its a career earned with endless hours of practice each week, competition, performances, and studies. It’s not an easy road, but it is a path that many in our community have embraced with all their heart. One such person is Jennifer Chudacik our Vocal Music Teacher at Johnson City High School.

Jennifer was born and raised here attending school in Johnson City. Growing up she loved singing in her church choir. She still fondly remembers her music teachers Nancy and Rhonda who instilled in her a love for music. The experiences her teachers gave her have had an impact on Jennifer her entire life.

While in High School Jennifer sang in chorus and played the flute but it was in her junior year she chose to focus on singing. After graduating, Jennifer went to college for Speech Pathology. As a freshman, she chose music as her career path and with the support of her family and the help of her voice teacher she practiced, auditioned and was accepted to the SUNY Potsdam’s Crane School of Music where she received her degree in Music Business & Music Education.  And so Jennifer’s music career began.

One of Jennifer’s early accomplishments was being awarded a grant to teach in different burrows in NYC and working with VH1 in their Save The Music campaign. It was here in NYC she heard of a position to teach in Johnson City so she packed her bags and moved back to her hometown where she is now Johnson City’s High School music teacher, a position she has enjoyed for almost 15 years now. To her credit, she has also been an adjunct professor at Binghamton University, while also being in numerous community events and shows like SRO’s Titanic and performances with the Southern Tier Singers’ Collective.

Jennifer will tell you how proud she is of her students and watching their achievements. The love she shares for them and their accomplishments are her own reward for choosing to teach, and a tribute to those who taught her and gave her that love for music. Thank you, Jennifer, for helping to bring music to so many, making this truly a great place to live