Jesse built his first instrument, a Renaissance vihuela, while a student at the School of the Museum of Fine Arts at Tufts University. Since then, Jesse has been committed to helping preserve the musical culture of diasporic communities. In 2019, Jesse started the Sound Archive project at the Armenian Museum of America. In five years, he’s digitized hundreds of early 20th century recordings.

Since 2022, Jesse has been apprenticed to master luthier Chris Pantazelos of Spartan Instruments. Under Chris’s instruction, Jesse has learned historically and culturally accurate restoration and construction techniques.

Jesse specializes in working on lute family instruments with a particular focus on instruments common across the Middle Eastern, Central Asian, North African, and Mediterranean communities, including:

• Oud

• Bouzouki, tzoura, and baglama

• Tar

• Kanun / Qanun

• Lutes