ELECTRONIC PRESS KIT
Honors and Awards
MPR Class Notes Artist Grantee - 2015 & 2017 (MATRA) and 2020, 202102024 (Flipside Percussion)
Metropolitan Regional Arts Foundation - Next Step Grantee
MacPhail Center for Music / McKnight Foundation artistic development grant - 2016 winner for Marimba Nova concert Series
MacPhail Center for Music / McKnight Foundation artistic development grant - 2019 winner for travel and teaching in Costa Rica
Resident Artist for Black Dog Music, with MATRA 2014
Jerome Foundation - Jerome Hill fellowship finalist 2021
Premier Artist endorsement with Marimba One of Arcata, California 2021
Color in Motion ranked #20 on JazzWeek, August 23rd 2021
Twin Cities Jazz Fest June 2022, June 2025
BeSpoken Fellow, 2023-2024
Color in Motion,
Jenny Klukken’s debut album
with collaborators:
Chris Bates, Bryan Nichols, Nachito Herrera, Carlomagno Araya, Fernando Meza, David Schmalenberger, Karla Colahan, Olivia Deircks, Daniel Volovets, Bob Barnes, Riley Helgeson, Steve Yeager.
Recorded at Wild Sound Studio with Steve Kaul. Written and produced by Jenny Klukken.
Music BIO
Jenny Klukken is a marimbist, composer, recording artist and educator based in Minneapolis, Minnesota, where she studied Percussion Performance at the University of Minnesota with Fernando Meza. She has blazed her trail as a highly versatile and creative crossover marimbist, performing and writing musical styles including Jazz, Pop, Americana, Hip Hop, Brazilian, Flamenco, and more. In 2018, she received an Metropolitan Regional Arts Council grant to travel to Paris, France, to study marimba composition and improvisation with Eric Sammut. She has also been awarded grant funding from organizations like The Jerome Foundation, MacPhail Center for Music, Minnesota Public Radio, and others for her creative work as a marimba artist. In 2021, Jenny released her debut album "Color in Motion", which centered the marimba in a jazz/world music ensemble. She has released multiple singles, scores, and collaborative records since then, and is scheduled to release her next album in March 2026.
As an educator, Jenny encourages young marimba players to embrace improvisation and genre-crossing in order to make themselves a more balanced, versatile, and connected member of music world. Jenny teaches marimba out of her private studio in Minneapolis, has been guest-faculty at the University of Minnesota School of Music and Gustavus College, and continues to teach throughout the USA through artist residencies. Jenny is an active performer, band-leader, recording artist, composer, and premier artist and endorser of Marimba One instruments.
“Jenny Klukken has carved out a lane for herself as a jazz-conversant marimba player”
“Her music exudes freshness and creativity. Jenny’s execution is perfect as are all the musicians who accompany her in this magnificent project. ”
“Refreshing and impressive”
