Jessie Montgomery’s growing body of work includes solo, chamber, vocal and orchestral pieces, commissioned by such organizations as the Albany Symphony, American Music Festival, Chicago Sinfonietta, Joyce Foundation, National Symphony Orchestra, Orpheus Chamber Orchestra, Sphinx Organization, Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra, St. Louis Symphony Orchestra and Young People’s Chorus of New York. The first recording devoted to her music, Strum: Music for Strings, was released by Azica Records in 2015.
Jessie has been named the Chicago Symphony Orchestra's Mead Composer-in-Residence through June 2024. Her music interweaves classical music with elements of vernacular music, improvisation, language, and social justice, placing her squarely as one of the most relevant interpreters of 21st-century American sound and experience. Her profoundly felt works have been described as “turbulent, wildly colorful and exploding with life” (The Washington Post).