Jessie Montgomery, composer and violin

Meet Jessie

Jessie appears on Show HL-39 “Black Voices in Classical Music”.

The BBC calls Jessie Montgomery, “One of the most distinctive and communicative voices in the US, as a player and a creator.”

Jessie Montgomery is a GRAMMY® Award-winning composer, violinist, and educator whose work interweaves classical music with elements of vernacular music, improvisation, poetry, and social consciousness, making her an acute interpreter of 21st-century American sound and experience. Her profound works have been described as “turbulent, wildly colorful, and exploding with life,” (The Washington Post) and are performed regularly by leading orchestras, ensembles, and soloists around the world. In June 2024, Montgomery concluded a three-year appointment as the Chicago Symphony Orchestra’s Mead Composer-in-Residence. She was named Performance Today’s 2025 Classical Woman of the Year. Learn more at https://www.jessiemontgomery.com/.