Public radio from Western Michigan University 102.1 NPR News | 89.9 Classical WMUK
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

Listening To Ladies: Jessie Montgomery

Jiyang Chen

  

WMUK is featuring Kalamazoo resident Elisabeth Blair's Listening To Ladies podcastson Mondays at 10:00 am as they become available. The podcasts grew out of Blair's desire to discover and shed light on the work of current and past composers who are women.

Prior to the podcast, Blair tells Cara Lieurance that being singled out as a "woman composer" is unwelcome to some. But she is spurred on by the extreme under-representation of women composer in classical music, saying, "The reason you can't name a woman composer isn't because they aren't there."

About this week's guest, Blair summarizesJessie Montgomery is a New York native violinist, composer and music educator. Since 1999 Jessie has been affiliated with The Sphinx Organization, which supports the accomplishments of young African-American and Latino string players. Since 2012 Jessie has held a post as Composer-in-Residence with the Sphinx Virtuosi. An active chamber musician and collaborator, Jessie has performed with the highly acclaimed Catalyst Quartet, raved by the New York Times as “invariably energetic and finely burnished…performing with earthly vigor.” She was a co-founder of PUBLIQuartet, an ensemble of composers and arrangers playing their own music as well as that of emerging and established contemporary composers. Jessie holds a Bachelor’s degree from The Juilliard School in violin performance and a Master’s Degree in composition and film scoring from New York University. Her primary violin teachers have been Sally Thomas and Ann Setzer and her composition teachers and mentors include Ira Newborn, Joan Tower, Derek Bermel and Laura Kaminsky.

You can stay in touch with WMUK music on FacebookTwitter,and by signing up for our eNewsletter.

Cara Lieurance is the local host of NPR's All Things Considered on 1021 WMUK and covers local arts & culture on Let's Hear It on 89.9 Classical WMUK weekday mornings at 10 - 11 am.
Related Content