Terry Jenoure

Terry Jenoure – violinist, vocalist, visual artist, and educator – was born and raised in public housing projects in the Bronx, NY into a Puerto Rican and Jamaican family. A 2023 recipient of awards from Creative Capital Foundation, South Arts Jazz Touring, and a composing residency at the Grand Canyon, influences on her composing range from her Afro-Caribbean heritage to her numerous collaborations with Free Jazz adventurers of the Black Arts Movement. Some of these luminaries include Archie Shepp, Leroy Jenkins, Marion Brown, John Carter, Lawrence “Butch” Morris, Andrew Cyrille, Elliot Sharp, Billy Bang, Richard Davis, and Pulitzer Prize winner Henry Threadgill, among others. She studied voice with famed Edward Boatner who also coached Josephine Baker, Dinah Washington, and Jon Lucien. Associations with Yusef Lateef & Ornette Coleman have shaped her philosophy toward sound & her career choices emphasizing musical autonomy and experimentation.

In addition to a four-decade music career her style is also marked by extensive multidisciplinary work, which includes visual art exhibitions and writings in the field of arts-based research that are referenced by more than fifty scholars internationally through major publishers. Terry’s multidisciplinary lens shapes how she approaches composing for improvisers. Beyond applying more traditional systems, she also reaches for use of graphics, text, maps, games, conduction, and verbal instructions. And, in addition to her work with skilled professionals, many of her compositional tools have been gathered through discoveries made while teaching improvisation and developing grass-root composing systems with students ranging from graduate-level researchers across the U.S., to underserved youth in Black and Brown communities, to activists in Mexico, India, South Africa, Israel, and Colombia. With a career spanning four decades, her performances as composer and violinist/vocalist include appearances at prestigious jazz venues and international festivals across the U.S., Western and Eastern Europe, and South America. The recent release of her three-CD project features twenty-seven of her compositions for her sextet.

The Portal. Her forthcoming CD release is entitled Letters from Papa. She has earned awards and grants from South Arts Jazz Touring (2023); NEFA (2022); South Arts Jazz Residencies (2021) and Mass Cultural Council (2021).