Artist: Lenora Helm Hammonds
Prior to joining the NCCU factulty, she was a teaching artist for arts organizations including Carnegie Hall, Brooklyn Philharmonic, Schomburg Center's Junior Scholar's Program, Def Dance Jam Workshop and Young Audiences New York, and was past president of International Women in Jazz, as well as a board member of New York Arts-in-Education Roundtable and GRAMMY in the Schools.
She holds a Bachelor of Music in Film Scoring and Voice from Berklee College of Music, and a Master of Music, Jazz Performance, Magna Cum Laude, from East Carolina University, and is a candidate for a Doctor of Musical Arts in Music Education from Boston University.
Her achievements in academia are matched by more than three decades as a recording artist. Professionally known as Lenora Zenzalai Helm, she is internationally acclaimed and continues to perform and tour as a jazz vocalist, vocal musicianship coach, composer, lyricist and big band bandleader. Her achievements include seven commercially released recordings, her own music publishing company, Baoule Works Music Publishing, and an extensive discography with internationally renowned names in jazz and contemporary music.
Further information about Lenora Helm Hammonds is found at LenoraHelm.com.
This content was excerpted from the faculty summary at https://www.nccu.edu/employee/lhelm , all rights to which belong to North Carolina Central University.
Lenora Helm Hammonds is the Department Chair & Director of Graduate Programs, Jazz, at the North Carolina Central University Department of Music.
Helm Hammonds is a recipient of the 2021 UNC Board of Governors Award for Excellence in Teaching. Her research is published by Springer, Routledge and Taylor-Francis and spreads across the intersections of intercultural maturity, jazz pedagogy and digital humanities.
She teaches undergraduate and graduate courses in vocal jazz performance, ear training and songwriting, and directs the NCCU Vocal Jazz Ensemble (12 voices and a rhythm section).
From 2010, she led a 12-person international team authoring globally networked learning environments, pioneering the COIL (Collaborative Online International Learning) methodology for NCCU’s College of Arts & Sciences. This work lay a foundation for NCCU being the only HBCU in the GLOMUS (Global Network for Higher Music Dance and Performing Arts Education), a network of 23 international liberal arts universities (Glomus.net), some of with whom NCCU has global partnerships and MoUs.
Track 7_I Didn't Know About You:Lenora Zenzalai Helm w/Live Liner Notes - “For The Love of Big Band”
Vocal Jazz Online: Listening To Jazz with Lenora Helm
Charles Mingus' Goodbye Bye Pork Pie Hat sung by Lenora Zenzalai Helm