Jessika Kenney

Jessika Kenney
Background information
GenresExperimental
Occupation(s)Composer, vocalist, teacher
Websitejessikakenney.com

Jessika Kenney is an experimental vocalist, composer, and teacher.[1][2]

Kenney sang the operatic prose for the world premiere of the experimental opera Kali in 2000 and performed at the Behnke Center for Contemporary Performance in Seattle.[3] After the 2012 performance of Weathervane at Wellesley College, The Boston Globe called Kenney's singing "pure tones that emanate not just from the center of her being but seemingly from far back in time."[4]

In 2015, Kenney created Anchor Zero, a 5-room solo exhibition including calligraphic scores, a bamboo Ka'aba in collaboration with Otong Durahim, and a 3 channel video/12 channel audio installation, at the Frye Art Museum.[5] The Seattle Times described her exhibit as being like a "cavern filled with disembodied voices and spooky ambient sounds."[6]

In 2018, the American composer of experimental music Alvin Lucier invited Kenney to sing the vocals on his reworking of the Orpheus and Eurydice myth "So You (Hermes/Orpheus/Eurydice)".[7]

Her husband and musical partner is violinist Eyvind Kang.[8]

  1. ^ "Award Winners / Artist Profile". Artist Trust. Retrieved 17 February 2015.
  2. ^ "2015 CityArtist Projects". Seattle Office of Arts & Culture. Retrieved 17 February 2015.
  3. ^ Berardi, Gigi (1 September 2000). "Mythology Permeates Dance Landscape". Dance Magazine.
  4. ^ Singer, Thea (5 March 2012). "'Weathervane' a Meld of Sound, Movement". The Boston Globe. Retrieved 17 August 2016.
  5. ^ "Jessika Kenney: Anchor Zero". Frye Art Museum. 2015. Retrieved 17 August 2016.
  6. ^ Upchurch, Michael (16 January 2015). "'Anchor Zero' Turns the Frye Into Mystic Cavern". The Seattle Times. Retrieved 17 August 2016.
  7. ^ "So You … (Hermes, Orpheus, Eurydice), by Alvin Lucier".
  8. ^ The Stranger (October 19, 2015). "Music Genius Eyvind Kang Has Left Seattle to Teach at CalArts". The Stranger. Retrieved July 10, 2023.