JoVia Armstrong is a Detroit-born percussionist, composer, sound artist, and educator whose multidisciplinary career spans continents, genres, and communities. Known for her visionary blend of experimental composition, Black musical traditions, and immersive technologies, Armstrong’s artistry is rooted in rhythm and storytelling. She has performed and collaborated with a diverse range of artists, including El DeBarge, Omar, The Impressions, Les Nubians, Rahsaan Patterson, Maysa, Joe Vasconcellos, Nicole Mitchell, Isaiah Sharkey, Jeff Parker, Frank McComb, and Malian musicians Ballaké Sissoko and Babani Koné, among many others. She also appears in Johnny Gill’s music video Soul of a Woman, featuring Tiffany Haddish.

JoVia’s performance practice is deeply informed by her foundation in classical, jazz, and Afrodiasporic music traditions. She studied orchestral percussion, French horn, and cello at Detroit’s prestigious Cass Technical High School, but her passion soon shifted toward global percussion traditions after discovering Afro-Latin and Middle Eastern rhythms. This curiosity eventually led her to study Afro-Cuban percussion with Francisco Mora-Catlett as a freshman at Michigan State University, where she was a performance major. She expanded her scholarship of the African diaspora while working at the Center for Black Music Research during her time at Columbia College Chicago, where she earned a B.A. in Arts, Entertainment, and Media Management. Soon after graduating, she learned to play the cajon while touring with a group of South American musicians to honor the legacy of Chilean poet & politician Pablo Neruda.

Armstrong’s compositional voice draws inspiration from the complex rhythms and sonic textures of artists such as Herbie Hancock, Susana Baca, Rabih Abou-Khalil, Osibisa, Azymuth, Danilo Pérez, and Sun Ra. Her hybrid approach to percussion includes acoustic and electronic instrumentation, allowing her to create lush, immersive soundscapes. This fusion is evident in her long-standing role as a percussionist and composer for the Detroit-based world-jazz ensemble Musique Noire, whose album Good Hair earned three Detroit Music Award nominations. The group won Best Black Female Jazz Group in 2015 from the Black Women in Jazz Awards and released Reflections: We Breathe in 2017.

JoVia also served as percussionist, background vocalist, and tour manager for JC Brooks & the Uptown Sound from 2012 to 2018. She composed and produced their 2018 EP, Red, Black, and Blue, an emotionally charged album that addresses racial tensions in America. 

As a bandleader, she fronts Eunoia Society, a project that pushes the boundaries of contemplative music and sonic technology. The ensemble combines composition with immersive tech—including multichannel audio, telematics, and time-based processing effects—to create meditative environments for audiences. Eunoia Society’s 2022 release, The Antidote Suite, was composed for The Black Index, an art exhibition curated by Dr. Bridget Cooks. The album, featuring special guests Isaiah Sharkey and Jeff Parker, received critical acclaim, with JazzTimes drawing comparisons to Herbie Hancock’s Mwandishi band and The New York Times describing it as having “the humid magnetism of a weather pattern.” The group’s 2023 follow-up, Inception, was also widely praised in publications including The Wire, DownBeat Magazine, and Jazziz.

An advocate for youth empowerment through music and technology, Armstrong has over two decades of experience as a teaching artist and mentor. She worked alongside Bro. Mike Hawkins at Chicago’s Digital Youth Network and YOUmedia Chicago, guiding young people in creative digital expression. Her work in this area earned her the 3Arts Siragusa Foundation Artist Award in 2011. She is dedicated to reaching young girls and introducing them to electronic music production and sound technology, to help them build their self-esteem.

A highly respected leader in the creative music community, Armstrong is a member of the Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians (AACM) in Chicago, where she served on the executive board as Secretary and chaired the membership committee. She is an endorsed artist with QSC, Sabian, Icon Pro Audio, and Gon Bops. In 2015, she was awarded Best Black Female Percussionist of the Year by the Black Women in Jazz Awards. She is named as one of Downbeat Magazine’s Rising Star Percussionists in 2023 and 2025.

JoVia holds a Ph.D. in Integrated Composition, Improvisation, and Technology from the University of California, Irvine, where she examined how creating contemplative music through the Black lens could combat unconscious bias. She is now an Assistant Professor of Music at the University of Virginia’s Department of Music, where she teaches graduate and undergraduate courses.