Jessie Montgomery facts for kids
Jessie Montgomery (born December 8, 1981, in New York City) is an amazing American musician. She is a talented violinist, a composer who writes music, and a teacher. She also plays in small music groups. Jessie's music often explores everyday sounds, how people create music on the spot (improvisation), language, and ideas about fairness and equality. She was named the 2025 Classical Woman of the Year by the radio show Performance Today.
Growing Up and Learning Music
Jessie Montgomery grew up in New York City. Her parents were also artists: her mom, Robbie McCauley, was a writer and performer, and her dad, Ed Montgomery, was a composer. Jessie started playing the violin when she was very young at the Third Street Music School Settlement.
She studied violin at the Juilliard School, which is a famous music school. Later, she earned a master's degree in writing music for movies and other media from New York University in 2012.
Since 1999, Jessie has worked with the Sphinx Organization. This group helps young Black and Latino string players. Jessie received awards from Sphinx when she was younger. Now, she is a special composer for the Sphinx Virtuosi. This is the organization's professional touring music group.
Jessie's Music Career
Early in her career, Jessie performed a lot and taught music. She taught at places like Community MusicWorks in Providence, Rhode Island. In 2010, she helped start a string group called PUBLIQuartet. She also played with the Catalyst Quartet until January 2021.
Jessie has been writing more and more music. She writes for solo instruments, small groups, singers, and large orchestras. Many groups have asked her to write music for them. These include the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra. She has also received awards from groups like the ASCAP Foundation.
Her music has been played by famous orchestras around the world. These include the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra and the Philharmonia Orchestra. Her music has even been used for dances by the Dance Theatre of Harlem.
In 2014, a music critic from New York Times wrote about her piece Banner. This piece was written for the 200th anniversary of "The Star-Spangled Banner". The critic said Jessie bravely changed the anthem. She mixed it with American folk songs and anthems from other countries. This created a "musical melting pot."
In 2016, Jessie was chosen to be on the board of Chamber Music America.
In 2019, Fanfare magazine talked about her music. They said listeners might hear sounds from different cultures. These could include samba music or Zimbabwean dance. They noted her music sometimes sounded like a modern jazz jam session.
Jessie also plays in a duo called big dog little dog. She plays with bassist Eleonore Oppenheim. They released their first album in 2019.
In 2021, she became a special composer for the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. Her piece Hymn for Everyone was written in 2021. It was a response to the COVID-19 pandemic. This piece opens the Grammy-winning album, Contemporary American Composers (2023).
Her pieces Strum for String Orchestra and L.E.S. Characters have been performed in Central Park. They were part of the Naumburg Orchestral Concerts in 2021 and 2023.
Music Albums
- Standard Stoppages (2025), Cedille
- Montgomery: Rhapsody No. 1 (2024), Rubicon
- Contemporary American Composers (2023), CSO Resound
- Songs for Our Times (2023), Deutsche Grammophon
- Bach / Gould Project (2015), Azica
- Strum: Music for Strings (2015), Azica 71302
List of Compositions
- Banner (2014), for solo string quartet and string orchestra
- Banner (2017), for solo string quartet and chamber orchestra
- Because (2021), "A Symphony of Serendipity" for narration and orchestra
- Break Away (2013), for string quartet
- Cadenzas (2014), for Cello Concerto No. 2 in D Major by Joseph Haydn
- Caught by the Wind (2016), for orchestra
- Chemiluminescence (2025), for string orchestra
- Coincident Dances (2017), for orchestra
- Concerto Grosso (2024), for oboe, clarinet, harp, piano, violin solo, string quintet
- Danse Africaine (2016), for soprano-alto choir
- D Major Jam! (2020), for string ensemble
- Divided (2022), for solo cello and string orchestra
- Duo for Violin and Cello (2015), for violin and cello
- Five Freedom Songs (2021), for voice, percussion, and string orchestra
- Flight (2025), for solo cello
- Hymn for Everyone (2021), for orchestra (in the 2023 Grammy-winning album, Contemporary American Composers)
- I Have Something to Say (2020), for soprano-alto-tenor-bass chorus, children's choir, and orchestra
- I Want To Go Home (2015, rev. 2021), traditional Black spiritual for soprano and string quartet, quintet, or string orchestra
- L.E.S. Characters (2021), concerto for solo viola and orchestra
- Loisaida, My Love (2016), for mezzo-soprano and cello
- Lunar Songs (2019), for voice and string quartet
- Musings (2023), for two violins
- Overture (2022), for orchestra
- Passacaglia (2021), for flute quartet
- Passage (2022) for orchestra and dancers
- Passage (2019), for flute, clarinet, horn, string quartet
- Peace (2020), for clarinet and piano
- Peace (2020), for viola and piano
- Peace (2020), for violin and piano
- Play (1999), for flute, clarinet, violin, and cello
- Records from a Vanishing City (2016), for orchestra
- Rhapsody No. 1 (2014), for solo cello
- Rhapsody No. 1 (2014), for solo violin
- Rhapsody No. 2 (2020), for solo violin/for solo violin and chamber orchestra (arr. Michi Wiancko)
- Rhapsody No. 1 (2021), for solo viola
- Rhapsody No. 2 (2021), for solo viola
- Rounds (2022), for piano and string orchestra
- Shift, Change, Turn (2019), for chamber orchestra
- Snapshots (2023), for orchestra
- Source Code (2013), for string quartet or string orchestra
- Soul Force (2015), for orchestra
- Space (2023), for solo violin and orchestra
- Starburst (2012), for string orchestra
- Strum (2006; rev. 2012), for string quartet/quintet or string orchestra
- Study No. 1 (2023), for percussion quartet
- Tower City (2018), for solo carillon
- Transfigure to Grace (2023), for orchestra, inspired by themes from Passage (above)
- Voodoo Dolls (2008), for string quartet or quintet
