Jhoely Garay

Jhoely Garay is a New York-based guitarist, composer, arranger, and educator from Mexico, whose music expresses her passion for straight-ahead swing, contemporary jazz, and musics and rhythms from Latin America. She uses her voice as an artist to raise awareness about topics often overlooked by the public, such as climate-related issues and untold or hidden histories left out of official narratives.

Garay has become an integral part of the dynamic jazz scene in New York and Mexico, collaborating with iconic artists such as Dee Dee Bridgewater, Steve Wilson, Darcy James Argue, Jim McNeely, Mike Holober, among others; and performing at renowned venues, such as Carnegie Hall, The National Jazz Museum in Harlem, The MET Museum, Jazz Institute Berlin, The Public Theater, Stanford University, Aaron Davis Hall, The Clemente Soto Cultural Center, Shea Center for Performing Arts, Colima International Jazz Festival, National Arts Center in Mexico, and as a guest composer, arranger and conductor of the NYO Jazz Orchestra, the Berlin Youth Jazz Orchestra.

Her gifts as both a guitarist and composer have earned her numerous accolades, including five Latin Grammy Cultural Foundation awards, the Stanford Jazz Mentor Fellowship (2022-23), the Portland Jazz Composers Ensemble Prize (2020), and the Repsol Emerging Artist Award (2017). She was selected to participate in the Woodshed Network Residency directed by the Tony Award-winning NEA Jazz Master Dee Dee Bridgewater and participated in the International Workshop for Jazz and Creative Music at The Banff Centre in Canada.

Garay has received recognition as a composer and for her jazz orchestra and large ensemble works from ASCAP, Lower Manhattan Cultural Council, New Music USA, American Composers Forum, Pathways to Jazz, New York City Artist Corps, and the National Fund for Culture and the Arts in Mexico, and her commitment to fostering musical talent extends to her role as a Latin Grammy Cultural Foundation Ambassador.

Garay is a passionate educator committed to sharing her love for music. In addition to the Stanford Jazz Workshop, she is a faculty member at Jazz House Kids New York, 92NY music program, El Paso Jazz Girls, and the Riverdale Music Studio. Garay has also taught masterclasses in jazz guitar and composition at higher education institutions in Mexico and the U.S., such as Portland State University, Jazz Education Network Conference, Universidad Veracruzana JazzUV, Universidad de Queretaro, Universidad Autónoma de Colima.

Garay holds a Master’s degree in Jazz Composition from the Manhattan School of Music and a Bachelor’s degree in Jazz Guitar Performance from The City College of New York, graduating with honors from both institutions.