J. Clay Gonzalez is a sound artist, composer and music director based in Michigan. He founded and developed Regenerate!, a project dedicated to producing site-specific “regenerative immersions” that welcome people of varying backgrounds to participate in communal sound-making.
Through this work, he has developed a new system of notating, composing, orchestrating, rehearsing and presenting music in ways that enact and promote the ensemble’s humanist values. His immersions have been presented by the University Musical Society, The Third Place [MUSICFEST], The University of Maryland, The Washington Women in Jazz Festival, The National Orchestra Institute and Strange Beautiful Music (New Music Detroit.)
Clay attended the University of Michigan, studying music composition. He has been featured as an Artist-in-Residence at the Iowa Lakeside Laboratory, Monson Arts, the University of Maryland, The Mountain Lake Biological Station in Virginia, Prairie Ronde Artist Residency and the Tallgrass Artist’s Residency. Alongside composing, he works as an editorial assistant for composer Shara Nova and is experienced in music preparation. In 2025, he was awarded a McKnight Visiting Composer Fellowship through the American Composer’s Forum.
Website: claygonzalez.com