Biography

  • As a vocalist she’s been taught by a variety of contemporary and jazz vocal tutors, including Ian Chesworth and Sue Hickey. Singing in a variety of ensembles, including session orchestras, jazz bands and choirs since a young age, she is a confident and versatile performer. Her influences and inspirations include Eva Cassidy, Ella Fitzgerald, Nina Simone, Caity Gyorgy, Amy Winehouse and Laufey.

    Her love for vocal imporivsation, combined with her strength in composition and arranging has led her to lead and arrange material jazz bands, compose jazz repertoire for voice and piano, and direct bands, as their lead vocalist. She frequently improvises during her performances, and equally enjoys soloing on the flute, often switching between the two on stage.

    Her background in classical flute and her experience singing across different genres has led her to taking classical voice lessons from Kate Symonds-Joy and singing in The Choir of Gonville & Caius College. Her experience in the chapel choir, which sings three services a week, rehearsing five times a week, has enabled her to not only develop her identity as a classical vocalist but to explore a wide range of excellent repertoire in great detail.

  • As a classically trained flautist, Jasmine has spent her life performing both as a soloist and in varied ensembles including : Orchestras, Wind bands, Chamber ensembles, and in contemporary ensembles, including folk, world, pop and jazz music ensembles. Many of these have led her to recording flute (including alto, bass and piccolo) for a variety of session projects, such as recording flute for singer/songwriters Abigail Laker and Evie Moran (bass flute) and overdubbing piccolo on a metal track.

    She is currently studying jazz flute under the tuition of Liz Mitchell, and can often be found on stage, improvising and adding her flute lines to performances across a wide variety of genres.

    Growing up, Jasmine was taught for many years by Maria Snowdon, as she progressed to principal flautist & piccolo player in The Dark Peak Music Trust. In 2020 Jasmine was awarded the Lifetime Membership award for her dedication to the organisation. She achieved Distinction in her Grade 8 Exam, and now uses her knowledge and experience to tutor others, in addition to performing frequently.

    Jasmine is a keen pit band musician, having played Reed 1 in theatres across Cambridge, and taken the role of musical director across many productions. Recently she has taken up professional work as a both a MD and as a woodwind doubler, and is looking to continue her work in this field in the future.

  • Growing up in the Peak District, Jasmine’s music is inspired by the beautiful scenery of her surroundings. Her original songs are characterised by their floaty melodic lines, lyrics about nature and motivation, and incorporation of jazz harmony. Jasmine accompanies herself on her ukulele and electric guitar.

    Over the years Jasmine has headlined and performed at a variety of venues across Derbyshire. Manchester and Cambridge. In addition to a collection of smaller music venues she’s performed at larger venues and events such as including The Deaf Institute, The Great Northern Ukulele Festival, and performed her originals on the main stage of Band on The Wall with a full band.

    Recently she has focused on recording demos of her original songs, and will be releasing these on her website…

  • In June 2023, Jasmine received the Derek Scott Composition Award for obtaining the highest mark in composition in her cohort (82) during her BA (Hons) Popular Music and Recording degree. She was supervised by Dr Nicola Spelman during her studies, achieving a First class degree from The University of Salford.

    Her compositions are inspired by her surroundings, and by her background as a classical flautist and jazz vocalist. Works have included: pieces for solo flute, flute and piano, classical voice and piano, works for large ensembles, such as orchestras and wind ensembles, works for chamber ensembles, and more unique compositions such as a song for voice and ukulele accomapnied by a string section, solo flute and harp.

  • Musical Director- Cambridge Footlights & Cambridge University’s Amateur Dramatics Society

    For their production of Snow White at the ADC Theatre - December 2024

    Led and conducted vocal rehearsals, pit band rehearsals and 1-1 vocal and piano rehearsals for principal members of the cast. During the run she conducted the show for half of the 2 week run (conducting performers and pit band simultaneously), playing Reed 1 for the remainder of the shows

    ITV News East and West Anglia came to the theatre and recorded a live feature on the panto, they filmed the cast andband performing a song, with her conducting.

    Musical Director: Romeo and Juliet - Trinity College’s Dryden Society in Trinity Chapel (February 2024)

    Created a musical soundscape for this well known play. She chose the instrumentation, programmed the performance, arranged all musical rehearsals, and incorporated selections of improvisation using previous melodic themes to create smooth scene changes.

    “I was particularly impressed by flautist Jasmine Habgood, who was also the Musical Director. Habgood was disciplined in inclusion of live music; easy to overdo, they got the balance just right in order to create a great atmosphere”

    - The Tab Cambridge.

    In addition to my practical theatre experience, I’ve conducted orchestras and choirs in various contexts, such as directing a choir for a wedding, learning techniques and practising them in orchestral rehearsals, and seeking 1-1 mentorship, to develop my skills. I’ve learnt from mentors including Diane Hammond, Jeff Snowdon, Mark Bousie, Matthew Martin and Charlotte Johnston.