Lenora Helm Hammonds
Programs
Jazz Institute
biStep into the vibrant world of Dr. Lenora Helm Hammonds, globally celebrated in the music industry as Lenora Zenzalai (Zen-ZAY-Lay) Helm – a true force of nature whose passion ignites every space she enters! This award-winning vocal jazz musician, prolific composer, inspiring conductor, and captivating TEDx speaker isn't just an artist; she's a beacon for creatives everywhere. With the prestigious titles of a two-time Fulbright Music Specialist and U.S. Jazz Ambassador, coupled with her innovative leadership as an independent record label CEO, Lenora epitomizes what it means to craft a life of purpose through artistic dedication. But her influence doesn't stop there. Driven by a desire to empower her fellow artists, Lenora has masterfully developed digital courses (at LenoraHelm.online) designed to transform the journey for Creatives who have tasted moderate success but grapple with inconsistent income, stress, and the looming threat of burnout, or artists who use her membership program to keep their skills current.
Lenora, a Chicago native, is a vocal jazz musician, composer, arranger, teaching artist and educator who currently serves as Dean of the Professional Education Division at Berklee College of Music. From 2005 to 2024, she has held various positions at North Carolina Central University (NCCU), including tenured Full Professor in the Department of Music and Jazz Studies Program, and Chair of the Department of Music and Director of Graduate Programs, Jazz Studies. Distinctions include awards as a GRAMMY Music Educator of the Year quarterfinalist, and Jazz Educator of Distinction award recipient from Jazz Music Awards foundation, as well as being a Berklee College of Music Gospel Hall of Fame Inductee. She continues to serve on the Jazz Vocal Advisory Board at Juilliard Jazz. Her academic leadership is conjoined to four decades as a jazz recording and performing artist p/k/a Lenora Zenzalai Helm with eight solo albums (with a ninth collaborative album with The Sistering, slated for Spring 2026), and appearances on over a dozen jazz and contemporary music albums. Composer career highlights include being a MacDowell composer fellow, Chamber Music America/Doris Duke’s New Jazz Works composer award recipient.
She made her Carnegie Hall debut as conductor in the 2024 MidAmerica Productions season culminating over twenty years conducting vocal and instrumental jazz bands and ensembles. Her conducting accolades include directing international and national high school and collegiate all-state jazz competitions, including Jack Rudin Collegiate Jazz Championships, and Jazz at Lincoln Center. In 2020, she founded her own big band, Tribe Jazz Orchestra, boasting about half of the members being iconic women in jazz. As a busy recording artist, she has eight acclaimed jazz recordings as a leader, and appears on dozens of CDs with the biggest names in Jazz, including Ron Carter, Dave Liebman, Donald Brown, Andrew Hill, Stanley Cowell and Branford Marsalis. She holds a Bachelor of Music in Film Scoring/Voice from Berklee College of Music, a Master of Music, Jazz Performance/East Carolina University and Doctor of Musical Arts in Music Education from Boston University. As a published author her work is at the intersection of jazz, intercultural maturity, and digital humanities. Look for her vocal jazz performance pedagogy textbook Sing Vocal Jazz, Teach Vocal Jazz slated for early 2026 on Routledge/Taylor-Francis. Catch her TEDxBerklee Boston talk What Jazz Improvisation Can Teach You About Communication. She makes her home between Durham, NC and Boston, MA with her husband Fred Hammonds. www.LenoraHelm.com