Courtney Wright is a promising young composer and baritone saxophonist based in New York City. She is an active side musician, performing with many different ensembles in NYC, including the Birdland Big Band and the Arturo O’Farrill Latin Jazz Orchestra. Courtney also leads her own Quintet and Jazz Orchestra that primarily perform her original compositions and arrangements.

Courtney’s music has been performed and recorded by the WDR Big Band, the Juilliard Jazz Orchestra, and the One and Two O’Clock Lab Bands at the University of North Texas. She a current member of the BMI Jazz Composer’s Workshop and was a recipient of the 2021 ISJAC/USF Prize for Emerging Black Composers as well as the 2021 Herb Alpert Young Jazz Composer Award. Courtney was one of fifteen young musicians invited to participate in Ravinia Steans Music Institute’s 2022 Program for Jazz in Chicago, IL.

Courtney studied jazz composition at the University of North Texas under the mentorship of Richard DeRosa. She is a native of Woodbridge, VA, and grew up outside the vibrant jazz scene of Washington, D.C. Her major influences include Thad Jones, Gary Smulyan, Phil Woods, Sonny Stitt, and the great Pepper Adams.