The name Jessie Montgomery is becoming more and more familiar to classical music lovers. The 40-year-old is making her mark as a composer with a unique voice. Her music reflects her own life as an African American woman, but also draws on various other cultures and influences, including Zimbabwean dance, swing and techno.

Works like Strum and Starburst for string orchestra pulsate with creativity and her Banner is a provocative metamorphosis of “The Star-Spangled Banner.” Her music is being championed by more and more orchestras and soloists, including the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, which last year named her composer-in-residence.

Jessie Montgomery Grows Up in a Cultural Ferment

Her musical diversity can be traced to being born and raised in New York City. Growing up on the Lower East Side in the 1980s and early 90s, Jessie Montgomery was in the heart of an artistic ferment of which her parents were active participants.

“My parents are both artists, my dad a musician and my mom an actress,” Montgomery said. “I grew up in an avant-garde community, you could say. It was a political art scene with free jazz and new music. My dad is a saxophonist and he ran a music studio on Avenue A until 2008. Now he lives in Berlin and he still has a small, underground music house that he runs, and it’s all new music.” 

Montgomery says that growing up she listened to A Tribe Called Quest, Digable Planets, alt-rock bands like Smashing Pumpkins, Nirvana and 9-Inch Nails, as well as “grunge, drum and bass, house music and trance music.”

But Montgomery was also drawn to classical music and the violin.

“I started studying violin on the traditional track from the time I was four-years-old,” Montgomery said. “I started playing chamber music when I was 11, playing Schumann and then Brahms and Beethoven piano trios. And Mozart violin sonatas. Then when I got into high school and college, big concertos. I ran the full gamut.”

After beginning her studies at the Third Street School, the oldest community music school in the United States, she received her bachelor's degree in violin performance from Juilliard and her master’s from New York University.

In 1999, Montgomery began working with the Detroit-based Sphinx Organization, which supports young African American and Latino string players.

“With the Sphinx Organization I help with teaching, advocacy work and mentorship,” Montgomery said. “Any time a black student or musician reaches out and needs a little bit of a push or needs some advice, I try to make myself available, as much as I can. I remember mentors that made themselves available to me when I was young.”

Jessie Montgomery Sounding Like Dvorák

As a child, Montgomery absorbed the classics.

“I played a lot of Schumann when I was in high school, for some reason,” Montgomery said. A lot of this happened in the context of my chamber program, which was really robust at the Third Street Music School. We’d play through three Brahms piano trios throughout the year. And I’ve always loved Bartók, too.”

It wasn’t long before Jessie Montgomery started to try her own hand at composing.

“I started composing when I was really young, around 11-years-old,” Montgomery said. “I was starting to go to summer chamber music camps, and I would write these pieces that were really inspired by the pieces I was working on. I wrote two little string quartets when I was in high school. They both sound totally like Dvorák.” 

Leonard Bernstein was also an inspiration, not only for his compositions, but also his general approach to music. 

“The way he talked and thought about music and the way he was a broad communicator was really exciting to me,” Montgomery said. “His music is just delightful and fun and has this infusion of American spirit and sound. The Symphonic Dances (from West Side Story) is just fun. In many ways, I think it’s the epitome of American orchestral sound.”

Unfortunately, while growing up the young Montgomery never saw a composer who looked like her. Montgomery says this sends a subtle and sinister message.

“I didn’t learn about Black composers until I was 18 or 19,” Montgomery said. “I had never heard of a Black composer in my life. And I had internalized this idea without even realizing it that Black composers were not as good as white composers. It took me a long time to ever admit that I thought that.”

In spite of being in the overwhelmingly white-dominated world of classical music, Montgomery says she personally has never encountered any problems because of her race. She also gives credit to those who are trying to bring about change.

“I think people are trying new things,” Montgomery said. “A lot of organizations are finally embracing new music, which is a great way to open up the channels to Black musicians or other musicians of color. It’s been interesting to see how new music programming has opened up a lot of opportunities”

Jessie Montgomery Moving Things Forward

Montgomery says she is grateful for her opportunities and wants to make the best of them. She is currently deep in projects. In May, the Chicago Symphony Orchestra conducted by Riccardo Muti will premiere her orchestral piece, “Hymn for Everyone”

“It’s this hymn-like melody that I wrote that permeates the entire piece,” Montgomery said. “It’s for full orchestra and each of the orchestra’s families gets mini-chorales that are stacked on top of one another.”

In addition to her work with the Chicago Symphony, Montgomery is also working on a piece for pianist Awadagin Pratt, a work for the Dallas Symphony that will have its premiere in May, and a percussion quartet for the Percussion Arts Society. She’s also composing an opera.

“I’m slowly working on an opera that’s going to be in workshop with MetLiveArts at Lincoln Center,” Montgomery said. “It’s loosely based on the life of my great-great-grandfather who was a Buffalo Soldier. I’ll be telling a bit of that history and tying it into today.”

Jessie Montgomery is definitely seeing things improve for people of color in classical music. And she plans to continue to do her part to make classical music welcoming for everyone.

“They are those who think it’s a pain in the butt to have to diversify their programming,” Montgomery said. “They think everybody’s making too much of a big deal of identity politics within music. It’s understandable. I wish it wasn’t a problem. I wish I didn’t feel like I have things to prove. But now that those doors have been opened, I feel honored to bring my voice into the conversation.”

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You can reach Patrick Neas at patrickneas@kcartsbeat.com and follow his Facebook page, KC Arts Beat.

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