Martha Gonzales, Ikue Mori, and Tomeka Reid named The 2022 MacArthur Fellows

An American artist or an academic can't get nominated for MacArthur Fellows award, and the pool of candidates is a tightly-held secret. It's also a sweet cash prize. This year's 25 Fellows will each receive $800,000, a "no-strings-attached award to extraordinarily talented and creative individuals as an investment in their potential". This year's class of so-called 'geniuses' includes three musicians:

Martha Gonzalez of Scripps College is a musician, scholar and artist/activist "strengthening cross-border ties and advancing participatory methods of artistic knowledge production in the service of social justice"

Ikue Mori of New York, N.Y., is an electronic music composer and performer "transforming the use of percussion in improvisation and expanding the boundaries of machine-based music.

Tomeka Reid of Chicago, Ill, is a jazz cellist and composer "forging a unique jazz sound that draws from a range of musical traditions and expanding the expressive possibilities of the cello in improvised music"