Jerrell R. Gray was born in 1989 in Chicago, Illinois. He received his bachelor’s degree from Southern University and A&M College. Gray serves as both the founder and director of Neoteric Chorale, an ensemble focused on the modern performance practice of choral music.

Gray has composed multiple commissions, including the inaugural National Association of Teachers of Singing (NATS) Composer Mentorship Program on behalf of the Cincinnati Song Initiative, as well as a song cycle for mezzo-soprano Haley Cohen through the University of Michigan School of Music, Theater and Dance Eileen Weiser EXCEL Fund. Gray was also commissioned by the Sing My Song program, which is a collaboration between the University of Michigan School of Music, Theatre, and Dance, and the Hampsong Foundation.

In 2020, Gray won first place in the George Shirley Composer competition for his piece “Serenity Prayer,” a piece reflecting on the passing of his mother and grandmother. The piece is polytonal and polymodal and allows the singer to pull from their own experiences of grief and trials to portray the text.

-Lucy Koukoudian

This profile was created during the 2023-2024 academic year as part of the Song of America Fellowship Program, a project of the Classic Song Research Initiative between the Hampsong Foundation and the University of Michigan, School of Music, Theatre, and Dance.