Leschnikoff’s early musical life was spent studying privately until aged fifteen, she was awarded a scholarship by the Wolfson Foundation to study piano and singing at Junior Guildhall in London. She later continued with highly coveted full time scholarship at the school to joint first study voice with the late Johanna Peters and piano with John York. During this time she reached the finals of the International Young Singer of the Year at the Llangollen International Music Eidsteddfod, Wales, and graduated with a first class Honours Bachelor of Music.
Generously assisted by the Guildhall School Trust and the Boris Karloff Charitable Foundation, Jessica went on to graduate with a distinction for a Masters in Music with David Pollard. Previous professors include Ian Kennedy, Adrian Thompson and Susan McCulloch. Jessica’s coaches include Martin Katz, Paul Hamburger, Lada Valešová, Nigel Foster, Graham Johnson and Michael Pugh.
Jessica currently studies with Raymond Connell in London.
Through playing chamber music as a young pianist, Jessica displayed a natural understanding and keen insight for song repertoire, not least because of a mutual respect and appreciation for the work of pianists in this field.
She has built up a large art song and oratorio repertoire which includes works in the languages of German, French Russian, Czech, Finnish, Swedish, and Hungarian, and spans the Baroque to Contemporary composers of the 21st Century. Jessica is particularly fond of the works of Debussy, Fauré, Berg and Richard Strauss, but has also always sung Jazz, having grown up learning the soigné, urbane style and romance of Kurt Weill, Rodgers & Hart, Rogers and Hammerstein, Bernstein and performances by Duke Ellington, Count Basie, Chet Baker, Billie Holiday and Stephane Grappelli.

Jessica is the grand-daughter of Bulgaria’s world famous tenor, Ari Leshnikov – the first tenor of the Comedian Harmonists. With Bulgarian academics now researching both the German and Bulgarian years of this much beloved tenor, it has been discovered that Mr Leshnikov recorded a prodigious Bulgarian solo archive of over 100 songs that are only now being carefully documented and restored. In a recent visit to Bulgaria – the first of her family to visit since 1946, Jessica was invited to perform at a festival in Haskovo – the city of her grandfather’s early childhood. Three of Leshnikov’s songs were arranged by Rumen Boyadzhiev and performed specially by Jessica and fellow musician friends, Atanas Krastev (cello), Gocho Prakov (clarinet) and Viktoria Vassilenko (Piano).