Jessica Kaiser is a German classical guitarist who began performing publicly as a child prodigy, appearing in duo with Jakob Schmidt (the two formed the Kaiser Schmidt Guitar Duo in 2006, when Jessica was 13). Both started playing guitar at age four and later studied with Stefan Schmidt and, at the Franz Liszt School of Music in Weimar, with Professor Thomas Müller-Pering. Alongside her performing career, Kaiser has continued into academic research, and as of 2025 she leads a postdoctoral research project and teaches at the Franz Liszt University of Music in Weimar.

Kaiser has placed at several international competitions, including a Special Prize at the Budapest International Guitar Competition (2017), First Prize at the Anna Amalia Competition in Weimar (2009), and Second Prize at the Andrés Segovia Competition in Velbert (2011). Beyond performing, she is known for her work as an artistic researcher exploring new performance strategies for classical guitar.

Sources:

• https://jessicakaiserguitar.com/about/
• https://musikprotokoll.orf.at/en/bio/jessica-kaiser