Donny Kennedy is a Regina-based jazz saxophonist, educator, composer, and arranger. After 27 years in Montreal, he returned to Saskatchewan in July 2022 and now teaches Band and Jazz with the Regina Catholic School Division and Jazz History and Appreciation at the University of Regina.

A respected bandleader and composer, Kennedy has led the Donny Kennedy Sextet, which toured Mexico as part of the Festival Internacional Cervantino, received a GM Grand Prix de Jazz nomination at the 2003 Montreal International Jazz Festival, and was selected for a Canada Council initiative promoting emerging Canadian jazz artists. The sextet released the album Horizons, featuring Kennedy’s original compositions. He also co-leads the Kennedy/McLeod Quartet, which released Belaney’s Secret and released a new album, Home Brew, in July, 2025.

Kennedy taught at McGill University’s Schulich School of Music for 22 years, serving as Jazz Combo Coordinator and teaching a wide range of jazz performance, pedagogy, and arranging courses. In 2021, he received both the Schulich School of Music Teaching Award and McGill University’s Principal’s Prize for Excellence in Teaching. His teaching career also includes appointments at St. George’s School of Montreal and Bishop’s University, and he is a regular faculty member at Prairielands Jazz Camp in Regina.

An active performer and clinician across Canada, Kennedy is a D’Addario Canada–endorsed artist. He has performed and recorded with many of Canada’s leading jazz musicians, including Kevin Dean, Kirk MacDonald, PJ Perry, Dee Daniels, Joe Sullivan, Rémi Bolduc, and Christine Jensen. He played lead alto saxophone in the Joe Sullivan Big Band for 20 years and continues in that role with the Juno Award–winning Christine Jensen Jazz Orchestra.