ANN WARD is an acclaimed composer, vocalist, pianist and percussionist. Ann has developed her musical acumen in a number of arenas including church, theater, popular and jazz performance and the classroom. She has appeared in productions with Kuumba, ETA, Chocolate Chip, Steppenwolf and the Chicago Theater Company theaters. She began her performance career as a concert pianist at the Chicago Musical College of Roosevelt University and upon graduating with departmental honors from Kentucky State University, began working with the Ken Chaney Experience as vocalist. Appearances with Ed Wilkerson's Shadow Vignettes, Rita Warford and Mwata Bowden honed her love for musical exploration. Residences as artist/presenter with Urban Gateways and Illinois Arts Council Arts For Learning programs provided the creative expertise needed to direct the A.A.C.M.'s School of Music. A deep all encompassing spirituality nurtured in her ministries of music in the church colors her compositions
AWARD MATRIX was formed in 1991 by Ann Ward, composer pianist/ vocalist when she was asked by Chicago's Wright City College to perform for their Women's History Month celebration. The women that comprise AWARD MATRIX are highly skilled and talented musicians of African American heritage and whose commitment is to enlightened "edu-taininent" through spirit filled music and verse. Each woman brings her special essence and experiences to complete a wonderfully diverse yet homogenous blend of sonorities and rhythms.
AWARD MATRIX has performed for the Loyola University Women's Studies 4' and 611 Annual Women's Conferences at their Gannon Center for Women and Leadership. Members of the ensemble present concerts and workshop/lecture demonstrations throughout the Midwest, the USA, Canada and abroad as solo artists and with their own groups, i.e. SAMANA with MAIA and NIKKI MITCHEL and Ann, Maia and Nikki with the Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians (A.A.C.M.).
Ann is currently the arts specialist for Youth Guidance in Cabrini Green, minister of music for the Chatham Bethlehem Presbyterian Church, music instructor for New Concept School and is completing her tenth year as Dean of the A.A. C.M School of Music She is the vocalist with Mwata Bowden and Tri Tone, Dushun Mosely's quartet and pianist forRegina Harris Baiocchi.
Ann Ward is a viable force in the Chicago arts community and a recognized talent as a performer, composer and music educator throughout the Chicagoland area. "I attribute my strengths to my experiences in music and the arts and to the wonderful people who have shared their knowledge, time and support with me over the years. Without God and my special 'Family', I could not have hoped to sustain myself as an artist."
