In a 2022 interview with Jazz Night in America, Damien Sneed said, "I think it's important that we don't forget where many of us have come from as Americans, that we don't forget the songs that carried us over. And that brought us through."
Recognized today as a pianist, vocalist, organist, composer, conductor, arranger, producer and arts educator in high demand, Sneed’s music spans multiple genres. He studied at some of the most prestigious U.S. schools, including Howard University, the Peabody Conservatory of Johns Hopkins University, New York University and the Manhattan School of Music, where he teaches as a faculty member.
After playing organ on tour with Aretha Franklin and becoming a featured performer on the Aretha Franklin Tribute Tour, he would go on to work with Wynton Marsalis, who became his mentor in 2008 when Sneed made his conducting debut with the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra.
When asked about his jam-packed schedule in an interview with NBC News, he said, “It’s a lot, but I know that I’m blazing a path as a trailblazer and a catalyst to open up avenues for other people so they can have the opportunity to do the exact same thing that I’m doing, which is doing multiple genres and doing them all well.”
Credits
Host: Vernon Neal
Producer: Dan Nass
Writers: Andrea Blain and Scott Blankenship
Executive Producer: Julie Amacher
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About Rhapsody in Black
Where we turn up the voices of Black artists in the world of classical music, with host Vernon Neal.
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