Context for the work.

J.J. Wright is a producer, composer, pianist, and conductor working across music, live performance, film, and ritual. His practice combines the immediacy of jazz improvisation, the architecture of choral and sacred music, contemporary production, and collaborative storytelling. He is less interested in crossing genres than in building the form each project requires.

His major works include O Emmanuel, a Billboard No. 1 classical album that brought children’s choir and chamber ensemble together with jazz trio; The Passion, a 95-minute music-drama co-created with the University of Notre Dame Folk Choir, recorded in Jerusalem, and produced by Joe Henry; and Drawn Back to the Table, a Passion–Resurrection project framed by the Road to Emmaus. His production credits include Mysteries & Medicines with Brother Isaiah.

From 2017 to 2026, Wright served as director of the University of Notre Dame Folk Choir, leading an ensemble in which worship, touring, recording, and student formation became parts of a single creative practice. The Passion was presented at The Town Hall in New York and the Music Center at Strathmore, while Wright’s work with the choir reached communities in East Africa, the Holy Land, and East Asia.

Wright studied jazz piano at The New School and earned a doctorate in choral conducting from the University of Notre Dame. His Rome-based research focused on translating early Baroque oratorio into jazz; he also studied at the Pontifical Institute of Sacred Music and interned with the Sistine Chapel Choir. Earlier in his career, he performed in the U.S. Naval Academy Band and appeared on a recording that won the Latin Grammy for Best Latin Jazz Album and was nominated for a Grammy in the same category.

Wright’s developing work extends into film, documentary, and immersive media. Across mediums, he creates artist-led projects that join rigorous craft, spiritual inquiry, and collaborative making.