Johnaye Kendrick

Appointed Fall 2026

Johnaye Kendrick is a three-time Grammy® Award-winning vocalist, composer, arranger, orchestrator and multi-instrumentalist whose work bridges jazz performance, composition, arranging and contemporary music. She serves as director of jazz studies and associate professor of music at the University of Maryland School of Music.

Kendrick holds a Master of Music from Loyola University and an Artist Diploma from the Herbie Hancock Institute of Jazz Performance, formerly the Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz. As a member of the Institute’s highly selective program, she studied and worked closely with jazz luminaries including Ellis Marsalis, Terence Blanchard, Terri Lyne Carrington, Nicholas Payton and Lewis Nash, among others. These experiences helped shape her approach to performance, composition, improvisation and music education.

As a performer and composer, Kendrick has developed a distinctive artistic voice grounded in the jazz tradition while drawing from a broad range of musical influences. Her work encompasses original compositions, arrangements, and reimagined interpretations of jazz and contemporary repertoire. In 2014, she founded her independent record label, johnygirl, through which she released two albums as a leader. HERE features a collection of original compositions, while FLYING pairs original music with Kendrick’s interpretations of works from the jazz and contemporary repertoire.

Kendrick is a member of the Grammy® Award-winning vocal ensemble säje, with whom she has received three consecutive Grammy Awards for Best Arrangement, Instruments and Vocals. The ensemble received the award in 2024 for “In the Wee Small Hours of the Morning,” featuring Jacob Collier; in 2025 for their original composition, “Alma”; and in 2026 for “Big Fish,” a collaboration with Nate Smith. Her work with säje reflects a broader creative practice rooted in collaborative composition, vocal arranging, improvisation, and expanding the role of the voice within contemporary jazz.

Kendrick’s creative work has been supported by numerous grants, fellowships, and residencies. She was a 2023 Jack Straw Creative Resident and has received a Chamber Music America New Jazz Works grant, a Marble House Project residency, a South Arts Jazz Road Creative Residency and a Chamber Music America Performance Plus grant.

Alongside her career as a performing and recording artist, Kendrick is deeply committed to jazz education and mentorship. At the University of Maryland, she leads the Jazz Studies program, directs ensembles and works with students to develop their individual artistic voices while building a strong foundation in the history, language and evolving traditions of jazz. Her teaching and creative practice emphasize musicianship, collaboration, artistic identity and the importance of creating spaces in which students can see themselves reflected in the music they study and perform.