A native of McComb, Mississippi, Patrick Jackson received his B.M.E. at Jackson State University and his M.M. in Double Bass performance from the St. Louis Conservatory of Music. While at Jackson State University, he was a member of the Mississippi Symphony Orchestra and Mississippi Opera Orchestra and received full scholarships to study music at Interlochen National Summer Music Camp and the Aspen Music Festival. Later in his career, he studied orchestral conducting at the North Carolina Institute of Conducting and American Institute Of Conducting.
Jackson's instructional leadership and commitment to music education is legendary in the Kirkwood School District. He has been honored in Who's Who Among America's High School Teachers by former students. Jackson was the recent recipient of the Missouri American String Teachers Association's "Secondary String Educator of the Year" award. In addition, the Kirkwood School District honored him as the 2003-04 Teacher of the Year. Jackson was also the 2003 Emerson "Excellence in Teaching" award winner and was recognized the following year by The St. Louis American as one of its "Excellence in Education" honorees. He is the recipient of the McComb High School Hall of Fame Class of 2014.
His orchestra has won local, state and national acclaim for the past 22 years. In March 2010, the KHS Symphonic Orchestra performed at the famed Carnegie Hall, selected as one of three high school orchestras in the nation to do so. In June 2011, Mr. Jackson received the Yale Distinguished Music Educator Award from the Yale School of Music.