Columbia University in the City of New York
Search
Close
Search our site

Hit enter to search or ESC to close

All News
Reviews | April 8, 2025

I CARE IF YOU LISTEN reviews the Composer Portrait of Jessie Montgomery

Donna Lee Davidson reviews the Composer Portrait of Jessie Montgomery, featuring mezzo-soprano Alicia Hall Moran, violist Dana Kelley, guest pianist Pascal Le Boeuf, The Everything Band, and the composer on violin.

Jessie Montgomery Composer Portrait Rob Davidson 1860x1210
Photo by Rob Davidson for Miller Theatre
APRIL 8, 2025, DONNA LEE DAVIDSON

Jessie Montgomery Composer Portrait is a Prismatic Snapshot of Her Many Stylistic Influences

"It’s not easy to write something new about composer, violinist, and educator Jessie Montgomery – to say something that hasn’t already been said about the GRAMMY winner and “Performance Today” 2025 Classical Woman of the Year...but on April 3 at Columbia University’s Miller Theatre, Montgomery presented a path not already landscaped for her Composer Portrait featuring The Everything Band, a new project she is building to challenge musical backgrounds, mix various influences, and re-define how we engage multidisciplinary artists in one setting."

“Montgomery is laying a critical foundation by giving herself permission to take from all manners and modes of music...bringing together musicians from clearly demarcated schools of study to bend genre until it – and the rules contained within it – break.”

Read the full review

Jessie Montgomery by Rob Davidson 960x1446
Composer Portraits

Jessie Montgomery

Thursday, April 3, 2025, 7:30PM

The music of composer Jessie Montgomery is “turbulent, wildly colorful, and exploding with life” (The Washington Post), and is performed regularly by leading orchestras and ensembles around the globe. Winner of the 2024 Grammy Award for Best Classical Composition and Musical America’s 2023 Composer of the Year, the Juilliard-trained violinist is immersed in a diverse range of projects, including The Everything Band—eight composer-performers of varied stylistic backgrounds creating music by experimentation, improvisation, and open-ended form. Montgomery performs alongside the ensemble for this Portrait, featuring a newly commissioned work and the hauntingly beautiful Source Code for string quartet.

Learn More

Stay Updated

Be the first to hear about new initiatives and programs, including announcements about our free Pop-Up Concerts.

Sign Up

Support Us

Every gift—large or small—helps us realize our mission of bringing exceptional, unique artistic projects to our stage.

Make a Donation
This website uses cookies as well as similar tools and technologies to understand visitors' experiences. By continuing to use this website, you consent to Miller Theatre’s usage of cookies and similar technologies, in accordance with the Columbia University Website Cookie Notice..
I agree