Jessika Kenney

Jessika Kenney is a vocalist and composer/improviser, born and raised in Spokane, Washington. She has been involved in many experimental and traditional scenes of music since the 90s, with the transformative powers of the voice and the experiences of mysticism as core interests. At the same time, Jessika's performances reveal intense inner structure, built upon textual, acoustic, and social relations, as well as transmitted knowledge, such as that she received through her main teachers in Classical Persian radif and Javanese sindhenan. Kenney's documented solo works include the large-scale sound and video installation "Anchor Zero" and the LP "ATRIA". Recorded collaborations include "Aestuarium", "face of the earth", "Reverse Tree", "At Temple Gate", and "Live in Iceland" with Eyvind Kang. Together Kenney and Kang received the Stranger Genius Award and the Korean American Coalition Artistic Achievement Award. Kenney has received the James W Ray Distinguished Artist Award and the Lionel Hampton Best Jazz Vocalist Award. She currently teaches at California Institute of the Arts.