Winner of the Great American Jazz Piano Competition, New York pianist/composer/vocalist Deanna Witkowski has been heralded for her “consistently thrilling” playing and her “boundless imagination” (All Music Guide). Her 2014 recording, Raindrop: Improvisations with Chopin, seamlessly combines jazz, Chopin, and the music of Brazil. A prolific composer, Witkowski is well known for her work combining jazz and liturgy. Her 2009 release, From This Place, features her liturgical jazz and led to a second appearance on NPR’s Weekend Edition Sunday. She is a frequent presenter on jazz and spirituality, and has lectured at the International Thomas Merton Society Meeting, the Calvin Institute of Christian Worship, and the Hymn Society conference.

 

Deanna has composed over 80 originals/arrangements for use in corporate worship, including two jazz Masses, jazz hymn arrangements, psalm settings, new music for 19th century hymn texts, choral works, and original worship songs. Her 137 page companion songbook to her sacred jazz recording, From This Place, includes piano scores, lead sheets, choral scores, and bulletin inserts for 13 original pieces.
Awards:
2016: Winner of the Illinois-ACDA Choral Composition Contest (SSAA setting of Tagore poem)
2014: Semifinalist for The American Prize in choral composition (SATB setting of Hildegard of Bingen text)
Commissions:
Church of the Mountain (SATB jazz- words and music)
Concentus Womens Chorus (SSAA setting of Denise Levertov poem)