Angel Bat Dawid is a Chicago-based composer, clarinetist, pianist, conductor, DJ, and educator and lecturer with 35 years of experience as a musician and performer. Since her 2019 debut album, The Oracle—released via International Anthem Recording Company—she has established a career in contemporary music centered on the integration of classical composition, gospel, jazz, avant-garde improvisation, and visual installations.

 

A 2025 United States Artist Fellow and current Artist in Residence at Northwestern University's Black Arts Consortium, Dawid leads the all-male ensemble Tha Brothahood—whose 2020 release LIVE was recognized by NPR—and the all-female group Sistazz of the Nitty Gritty. Dawid works with D-Composed, a Chicago-based Black chamber string ensemble that celebrates Black musicians and composers. She premiered the commissioned work Blk Metropolis Apacolypse with the collective in 2025 at the opening of The Land School, founded by the internationally acclaimed artist Theaster Gates. In February 2026, she premiered her 14-movement work, The Souls of Black Folk Suite, at the Harris Theater in Chicago. She has maintained a monthly residency on NTS Radio for over five years, focusing on the documentation of Black music.

 

Her performance and recording credits include work with André 3000, Saul Williams, Bilal, and Shabaka Hutchings. She released the collaborative album Journey to Nabta Playa with interdisciplinary artist Naima Nefertari through Spiritmuse Records. In film and media, she contributed to the score for season two of HBO’s Random Acts of Flyness, created by the prestigious filmmaker Terrence Nance, and has composed for Adidas and independent film directors.

 

Dawid's work emphasizes community and scholarly education. She has given workshops and lectures at Bard University, University of Chicago, and  led a masterclass and performance at Vanderbilt University's Blair School of Music for the Yusef Lateef Symposium. In addition to her performances, she held composition and music workshops at the Newport Jazz Festival and the Montreal International Jazz Festival. Her practice includes editorial and curatorial work documenting Black musical lineages, such as two curated playlist-blog collaborations for Smithsonian Folkways Recordings honoring Mary Lou Williams and educator Ella Jenkins. Dawid also contributed original writings to the International Society of Jazz Composers & Arrangers (ISJAC) artist blog.

 

She founded the Bloom Residency for Black Women at The Blk Room in Chicago’s Garfield Park, a co-creation space owned by a Black woman, she she co-leads the Fireflies program at the Old Town School of Folk Music, which offers music education to youth on Chicago’s West and South Sides. Her work with the Carnegie Hall Lullaby Project at the Simpson Academy for Young Women involves co-creating original music with teen mothers.

 

Dawid has performed in the United States and internationally, including tours in the United Kingdom, Europe, Japan, Brazil, Mexico, and South Africa. Her performance history includes venues and festivals such as New York Winter Jazz Festival, the Barbican Centre, Newport Jazz Festival, and the EFG London Jazz Festival. She has performed at the Philharmonie de Paris and Jazz à la Villette in France, as well as the Elbphilharmonie in Hamburg and Jazzfest Berlin in Germany. She remains the clarinetist for Damon Locks’ Black Monument Ensemble and is preparing for the June 2026 premiere of Henry ‘Box’ Brown: Tales of a Magical Nee Grow at Western Front in Vancouver, BC.

 

Dawid’s 35-year career as a classically trained clarinetist and pianist provides a rigorous foundation for the synthesis of Black musical lineages. Her work integrates acoustic and electronic mediums to document and advance the evolution of the tradition. This multifaceted practice establishes a proven record of bridging historical scholarship with contemporary innovation.