JoVia Armstrong is a musician, composer, producer, and educator from Detroit, where she studied percussion, French horn, and cello at the prestigious Cass Tech H.S. At Michigan State University, her mentor Francisco Mora-Catlett taught her Afro-Cuban hand percussion and got her hip to the music of the Black diaspora. Shortly after, in 2015, she became an official member of Chicago’s Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians (AACM). Armstrong is now on the executive board serving as the organization’s Secretary and chair of its membership committee. She has performed with El DeBarge, Omar, Les Nubians, Rahsaan Patterson, Maysa, Eric Roberson, Frank McComb, The Impressions, Isaiah Sharkey, Nicole Mitchell’s Black Earth Ensemble, Malian musicians Ballaké Sissoko & Babani Kone, Joe Vasconcellos, Martha Reeves, and many more. She earned a Ph.D. at the University of California-Irvine in the music department’s Integrated Composition, Improvisation, and Technology program in June 2022. She is now an Assistant Professor of Music at the University of Virginia’s Department of Music.

Website: https://www.joviaarmstrong.com/ 

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/JoViaArmstrong/

Instagram: @eunoiasocietymusic