Damien Sneed is a pianist, vocalist, organist, composer, conductor, arranger, producer, and arts educator whose work spans multiple genres. He has worked with jazz, classical, pop, and R&B legends, including the late Aretha Franklin and Jessye Norman, Wynton Marsalis, Stevie Wonder, Diana Ross, and many others. He has served as music director for many Grammy Award-winning gospel artists and is a 2020 Dove Award-winner, and a 2021 NAACP Image Award-winner for his work as a featured producer and writer on the Clark Sisters’ The Return.
In January 2020, Damien embarked on a 40-city North American tour, We Shall Overcome: A Celebration of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr bringing his brand of classical, jazz, and sanctified soul to venues across the country. He is the founder and artistic director of Chorale Le Chateau, which has gained a global reputation for its vivid interpretations of vocal literature, from Renaissance period pieces to art songs to jazz, spirituals, gospel, and avant-garde contemporary music. And he has performed at important national and international events, including the 2012 Olympics and activities related to the inauguration of President Barack Obama.
An acclaimed artist with a global reach, Damien is currently a faculty member of the Manhattan School of Music, where he teaches graduate-level courses in conducting and African American Music History. His other professional affiliations have included Michigan State University as artist-in-residence, the Juilliard School, Jazz at Lincoln Center, and the City University of New York as a professor of music. In 2015, he established the Damien Sneed Performing Arts Institute, a division of the Damien Sneed Foundation.
September 21 @ 4:30 pm – 6:00 pm
Habitat East Village with Damien Sneed and Friends