She and the group moved to New York, where they appeared frequently in the stage show at the Capitol Theatre, where Eugene Ormandy conducted the orchestra.

In 1929, Jessye went to Hollywood as the choral director for the MGM film Hallelujah, which had an all-black cast directed by King Vidor.

In 1933, she directed her choir in Virgil Thomson's and Gertrude Stein's opera, Four Saints in Three Acts, produced as a Broadway theatre work.

According to Steven Watson, the Eva Jessye Choir's participation in Four Saints, represented a musical and economic breakthrough for African-American singers at the time.

[2] Watson quotes Jessye, describing Four Saints as "quite a departure, because up to that time, the only opportunities involved things like 'Swanee River', or 'That's Why Darkies Are Born', or 'Old Black Joe'.

Jessye also composed her own choral works: These are combined spirituals, religious narrative or biblical text, and her orchestral compositions.