“Music is my connection to the world. It guides me to understand my place in relation to others and challenges me to make clear the things I do not understand. I imagine that music is a meeting place at which all people can converse about their unique differences and common stories.” – Jessie Montgomery

She’s a decorated composer and violinist whose works are frequently performed around the world by leading musicians and ensembles. Jessie Montgomery was born and raised in Manhattan’s Lower East Side in the 1980s, during a time when the neighborhood was at a major turning point: artists gravitated to this hotbed of artistic experimentation and community development. Her parents—a musician and a theater storyteller—took her to rallies, performances, and parties where neighbors, activists, and artists gathered to celebrate and support the movements of the time. From this sprung Jessie’s unique voice; her music interweaves classical music with elements of vernacular music, improvisation, poetry, and social consciousness. She is an acute interpreter of 21^st-century American sound and experience, and she joins us at the Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth for one night only in a showcase of her music and musicianship, moderated by Buddy Bray.

Musicians

Swang Lin (violin)
Mai Ke (violin)
DJ Cheek (viola)
John Belk (cello)
William Clay (bass)
Ivan Petruzziello (clarinet)
Erica Vernice Simmons (soprano)

Program

Source Code (string quartet)

Lunar Songs (string quintet, soprano)

Peace (clarinet and piano)

I Want to Go Home (string quartet, soprano)

Strum (string quartet)

ABOUT JESSIE MONTGOMERY

Jessie Montgomery is an acclaimed composer, violinist, and educator. She is the recipient of the Leonard Bernstein Award from the ASCAP Foundation and the Sphinx Medal of Excellence, and her works are performed frequently around the world by leading musicians and ensembles. Her music 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 profoundly felt works have been described as “turbulent, wildly colorful and exploding with life” (The Washington Post).

Jessie was born and raised in Manhattan’s Lower East Side in the 1980s during a time when the neighborhood was at a major turning point in its history. Artists gravitated to the hotbed of artistic experimentation and community development. Her parents—her father a musician, her mother a theater artist and storyteller—were engaged in the activities of the neighborhood and regularly brought Jessie to rallies, performances, and parties where neighbors, activists, and artists gathered to celebrate and support the movements of the time. It is from this unique experience that Jessie has created a life that merges composing, performance, education, and advocacy.

GENERAL CONCERT INFORMATION

Patrons must be 8 years of age or older to attend Cliburn Concerts.

For questions about ticketing please contact the Bass Hall Box Office at 817.212.4280.

The on-site will call and box office will open in the Modern Art Museum lobby one hour prior to concert time.

For information on parking, please visit https://www.themodern.org/visit/map-and-directions

Photography and recording are strictly prohibited.

The Cliburn cannot prevent you from becoming exposed to, contracting, or spreading COVID-19 at its events.
By attending any event, you accept the risk of being exposed to, contracting, and/or spreading COVID-19.
By attending any event, you agree to notify the Cliburn if you become aware of actual or potential exposure of COVID-19 to other attendees, and the Cliburn may notify attendees of such exposure.