B. MUS. College of Music, 2015; M.M. The Juilliard School, 2018
Young Alumni Award: Presented to alumni age 40 or younger who have distinguished themselves through a high level of professional accomplishment early in their career.
She is an accomplished jazz musician, recording artist and a Spartan.
Endea Owens graduated from the College of Music in 2015 with a degree in Jazz Studies. She went on to earn a master’s degree from the Juilliard School and began her remarkable career as a jazz musician. She has performed internationally as a collaborative artist with jazz greats such as Jennifer Holliday, Rhonda and Diana Ross, Jazzmeia Horn, Dee Dee Bridgewater, Steve Turre, and Lea Delaria.
Currently, Owens is the bassist with the house band on the Late Show with Stephen Colbert on CBS. Owens has won an Emmy, a Grammy Award, and a George Foster Peabody Award. Her work has appeared on Jon Batiste’s Grammy Award-winning album “We Are,” the Oscar-nominated film Judas and the Black Messiah, and H.E.R’s widely acclaimed Super Bowl LV performance. In addition, she was named among the 2019 class of Emerging Artists by Lincoln Center for Performing Arts.
In 2020, Ms. Owens founded the Community Cookout, an organization that makes New York City a better place through music, activism, and meals. To date, Endea’s organization has helped feed close to 3,000 New Yorkers and has hosted over a dozen free music concerts. Endea is set to premiere a newly commissioned work with the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra and will serve as the 2023 MAC Music Innovator with the organization. Additionally, Owens is the curator for the National Arts Club and a fellow for “Jazz is Now!” with the National Jazz Museum in Harlem. As a proud MSU alum, Endea exemplifies the Spartan spirit in her passion for philanthropy and teaching.
“I found my space and I found my groove in New York, but it's also because I found my groove here at MSU.”
Who will create music for the world? Spartans Will.