She has been funded by the National Endowment for the Arts; Meet The Composer; Doris Duke Foundation, Artist Trust, and The Seattle, King County and Washington State Arts Commissions, among others. She was an artistic Fellow at Civitella Ranieri (2004 Italy) and Artist Trust (2008 Ireland). In March, 2015 Earshot Jazz elected her to the Seattle Jazz Hall of Fame.

She co-founded the all-women Tiptons Sax Quartet in 1988. Since then they have recorded and produced 11 CDs, and have played jazz festivals and taught creative music workshops worldwide. Denio was commissioned by choreographer Pat Graney to compose 'Saxhouse' (1991); the Tiptons danced while playing. Other Tiptons commissions include 'Bus Horn Concerto' (1993; for sax quartet & 3 Metro buses); multi-media pieces 'Shop of Wild Dreams' (2006; with video and live painting) and 'Mythunderstandings' (2013/2015; with video and storytelling with Saanich Tribe musician Paul 'Che oke ten' Wagner).

Denio has recorded and produced music since she was a teenager. She has been commissioned to create soundtracks for choreographers Pat Graney (Saxhouse 1991; Tattoo 2000; Vivian Girls 2005; House of Mind 2008, Girl Gods 2015), Victoria Marks and Li Chiao-Ping. She wrote several soundtracks and received a Bessie Award for her collaboration with David Dorfman Dance. She's composed for chamber groups Die Knodel, Relache, and The Berkeley Symphony. She has made many soundtracks for art installations, theater, circus and cinema, producing over 50 recordings solo and in collaboration with artists in and from North America, East and West Europe, South America, Japan and Taiwan.

Her work has been performed at Carnegie Hall and The Brooklyn Academy of Music, and her piece 'Dishwasher' was included in the John Cage exhibit at the 1993 Venice Biennale. She has played in piazzas, arenas, churches, schools, prisons, ruins, greenbelts, and in an abandoned mercury mine.

Denio has collaborated with scores of innovative jazz musicians including Bill Frisell, Wayne Horvitz, Eyvind Kang, Fred Frith, Tom Cora, Jessica Lurie, Stuart Dempster, Paul Rucker, Hans Teuber, Emily Hay, Evan Flory-Barnes, and many others.

In 2014, she was invited by the Minister of Culture in Bolivia to collaborate with local jazz musicians, performing her compositions in the historic Teatro Municipal in La Paz. She tours extensively in Europe, especially throughout ex-Yugoslavia and the Balkans.

You can find out more about Amy on her website.

Birthing Chair Blues

Tongues