Award-winning pianist and composer Jennifer DeFrayne creates deeply emotional instrumental music shaped by resilience, healing, and life’s most profound moments. After years of life-altering health challenges, DeFrayne returns with her most personal music yet, marking a powerful new chapter in her artistic journey.

 

Raised in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, Jennifer began playing piano at the age of five. Self-taught, she quickly discovered a natural gift for composing, creating expressive melodies that reflected both her inner world and the experiences around her. As a teenager performing at a local art gallery, her style was compared to that of George Winston—an early sign of the distinctive voice she would develop as a composer.

 

Jennifer’s debut album By A Wire (2014) was recorded with legendary producer Will Ackerman (Founder of Windham Hill Records) at Imaginary Road Studios after she was discovered by pianist and producer Fiona Joy Hawkins. The album quickly gained international attention, earning Jennifer the Zone Music Reporter (ZMR) Award for Best New Artist. Accompanied by world class musicians Eugene Friesen, Charlie Bisharat, Tony Levin, Jeff Haynes, Jill Haley, Noah Wilding, Rebecca Daniel, Jeff Oster, Tom Eaton, and Will Ackerman himself, Jennifer's dream became reality. 

 

Her follow-up album Sisu (2017) expanded her musical vision with rich instrumentation and cinematic depth. The album received the ZMR Award for Best Piano Album with Instrumentation and a Global Music Award (Silver Medal) for Best New Age Album, further establishing her as a compelling voice in contemporary instrumental music. This sophomore release also included some of the same players and added Michael Manring, Premik Russell Tubbs, Jeff Pearce and Sara Milonovich. 

 

Soon after the release of Sisu, Jennifer faced a series of severe health challenges that forced her to step away from music for several years. Chronic nerve pain in her head and complications from an earlier cervical spine surgery created constant physical pain that made playing piano nearly impossible. In 2022, she underwent two major surgeries—one to repair the nerve causing debilitating head pain and another reconstructive cervical spine surgery. The long recovery that followed required patience and resilience, taking nearly three years before she could comfortably return to the piano.

 

During that time away from music, Jennifer experienced the emotional weight of losing the creative outlet that had always been central to her life. Yet music once again became a source of healing. Inspired by another group of musicians (Tripliciti) and a piece she transformed from guitar into piano, she rediscovered her passion for composing. That moment reignited her creative spirit and helped guide her back to the instrument that had always been her voice.

 

By December 2025, Jennifer returned to the studio and began recording new music. What began as a cautious return quickly became an outpouring of creativity, with compositions flowing more naturally and quickly than she had expected. The new music reflects not only her signature melodic style but also the depth and perspective gained through years of challenge and healing.

 

Jennifer is a member of NARAS (Grammy® voting member) and lives and creates in Oxford, Michigan with her husband, Grammy® Award-winning producer and engineer Corin Nelsen. Together they operate their recording and production company, SynchroSonic Productions, where she is currently completing her long-awaited third album, scheduled for release in June of 2026. The excitement is building as the new pieces include wonderful contributions from many of the acclaimed musicians from her previous albums. 

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Her music continues to resonate with listeners around the world, offering moments of reflection, calm, and emotional connection—reminding us that even through life’s most difficult seasons, creativity and hope can find their way back.