(Consultant – women in jazz)
Chicago native Lenora Helm Hammonds is an educator, jazz vocalist, vocal musicianship coach, composer, arranger, lyricist who has earned international acclaim from her six solo recordings, and her own recording and publishing company. Her achievements have garnered accolades as “the voice of her generation” by Jazziz Magazine. Lenora has appeared in renowned jazz festivals and venues worldwide, including Jazz at Lincoln Center, Schomburg Center’s Women in Jazz Festival, and annual appearances for Aruba’s International Jazz Day. Helm was named a 2018 Who’s Who Lifetime Achievement Award recipient, with achievements in music and music education spanning more than three decades, garnering her inclusion as a subject of biographical record for Who’s Who in America, Who’s Who in American Women and Who’s Who in the World. She has blazed a trail with an impressive list of first accomplishments, first Black woman to earn a film scoring degree from the prestigious Berklee College of Music, first Black vocalist to be awarded the Chamber Music America New Jazz Works Composer award, and first Black woman to direct the North Carolina Central University’s Vocal Jazz Ensemble. Lenora’s history and extensive knowledge of women in jazz has been invaluable to the Swing Sisters creative team!