2024 EFCF Fellowship Recipient
DEANNA WITKOWSKI
Dr. Witkowski was chosen for her proposal
Jazz in the Pews: “Experiments in Sunday Worship in the 1960s”
Dr. Witkowski’s project examines the liturgical jazz contributions of Mary Lou Williams and Eddie Bonnemère within two distinct religious communities: St. Thomas the Apostle Church, a Black Catholic parish in Harlem, and Saint Peter’s Church, a predominantly white Lutheran congregation in Manhattan. By contextualizing their work within Vatican II liturgical reforms, the civil rights and Black Power movements, and the Black Catholic liturgical movement, the study explores how these composers navigated racial and religious dynamics to create innovative sacred music. Employing Howard Becker’s concept of “art worlds” and Christopher Small’s “musicking,” the project argues that these jazz Masses were products of deeply collaborative ecosystems that fostered enlivened, singing congregations.
Her work will culminate in a final presentation at the JEN conference and a possible book, with anticipated publication in 2027 or 2028.
A little more about Dr. deanna witkowski:
Known for her adventurous, engaging music that heals the soul, pianist, composer, and scholar Dr. Deanna Witkowski moves with remarkable ease between Brazilian, jazz, classical, and sacred music. Her first book, Mary Lou Williams: Music for the Soul (Liturgical Press), is the winner of the 2022 ASCAP Foundation Deems Taylor/Virgil Thomson Award and the 2022 Jazz Journalists Association Award for Biography of the Year. Her seventh recording as a bandleader, Force of Nature (MCG Jazz), reached number five on the JazzWeek nationwide radio chart and remained in the top ten most played albums on jazz radio for more than ten weeks. The two projects cap a twenty-year deep dive into the ground-breaking impact of Williams’ life and music, making Witkowski one of the few living authorities on the iconic pianist. As a sought-after Williams expert, she has taught for Jazz at Lincoln Center, presented at the Kennedy Center, Loyola University Chicago, and Fordham University, and performed Williams’ compositions as a featured guest with the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra. In 2024, Witkowski completed her PhD in jazz studies at the University of Pittsburgh and is currently writing her second book based on her doctoral dissertation, “Jazz in the Pews: ‘Experiments in Sunday Worship’ in the 1960s.”
Dr. Witkowski is the winner of the 2002 Great American Jazz Piano Competition. During her twenty-three years on the New York City jazz scene, she held the piano chair in the BMI/New York Jazz Composers Orchestra for ten years under the artistic direction of Jim McNeely. She has recorded with Grammy nominees John Patitucci, Kate McGarry, and Donny McCaslin, and has performed and toured with vocalists Lizz Wright, Nnenna Freelon, Erin Bode, Filó Machado, and Vanessa Rubin. Her albums range from powerhouse arrangements of Cole Porter standards (Wide Open Window; Length of Days) to sparkling trio re-imaginings of traditional hymns (Makes the Heart to Sing: Jazz Hymns) to solo piano that blurs the lines between Brazilian, jazz, and classical (Raindrop: Improvisations with Chopin).
Dedicated to bringing communities together through jazz, Witkowski has worked as a guest music leader in over one hundred churches across the United States. Her weekly video series, “Off the Page: Sacred Jazz,” shares practical resources for church musicians and her jazz hymn arrangements have been purchased by over 500 churches. A prolific choral composer, Witkowski has won multiple competitions for her concert and sacred works. Her modern justice anthem, “We Walk in Love,” is part of the Justice Choir songbook and has been sung at the sixtieth anniversary of the Little Rock Nine at Central High School in Arkansas in 2017, at the 2018 St. Olaf Choral Festival, and as the closing song at the 2020 Chorus America conference. Commissions and new compositions have been funded by organizations including the New York State Council on the Arts (for her Afro-Brazilian project, the Nossa Senhora Suite) and the Choral Arts Initiative PREMIERE|Project Festival.
Dr. Witkowski is the new professor of jazz piano at Elmhurst University outside of Chicago. Experience her work at deannajazz.com.
*Dr. Witkowski will be presenting her PhD research at the upcoming 2025 JEN Conference in Atlanta, January 8-11, 2025.
The Ella Fitzgerald Charitable Foundation (in Los Angeles, CA) is prepared to make a monetary grant of between one thousand and five thousand dollars, and an additional thousand dollars may be awarded towards travel and accommodations if the Foundation deems this necessary.
submissions are due by October 15
Grant awardee will be notified by November 31.
- The project will be allowed up to two years for final completion or the fellowship money must be refunded in full.
- Final presentation of the project will take place at the Jazz Education Network (JEN) Conference.
- A written document/summation (non-exclusively) published through JEN is also required to be completed no later than six months after the final presentation.
After starting your application by clicking below, please submit the following application materials. Click below to begin application.
- Research Proposal
- Curriculum Vitae
- Letter of Reference
- Budget
We look forward to reviewing your application materials!
JEN Research Committee
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