Jenifer is a pianist, educator, and PhD candidate affiliated with the Music in Context research group of Hanze UAS and the Graduate School for the Humanities of the University of Groningen. She graduated from the master’s degree “New Audiences and Innovative Practices” at Prins Claus Conservatory, with a thesis on the benefits of improvisational theatre for classical music students. This project set the foundation for the work she has continued to develop since 2016. Using improvisational theatre as a basis, Jenifer focuses her practice as educator/researcher on developing modules to implement in Higher Education which facilitate the development of skills such as stage presence, communication, expressiveness, as well as a more positive and resilient mindset. Some of these modules are currently implemented at Prins Claus Conservatorium and the Honours College of the University of Groningen.  

Alongside this, Jenifer runs the company Creatio Ex Improv, and has led creative educational projects nationally and internationally, working in Spain, the Netherlands, and China. In 2018, she gave a TEDx talk on the importance of embracing mistakes in order to keep moving forward. You can also find her on stage as an actress and the resident pianist of the improv comedy group Stranger Things Have Happened.