Courtney Bryan, a native of New Orleans, La, is a prolific and eclectic composer, pianist, and arranger. Her compositions range from solo works to large ensembles in the jazz and new music idioms, film scores, and collaborations of dancers, visual artists, writers, and actors. She performs around the New York area, and is the organist and director of the Institute of Sacred Music at Bethany Baptist Church of Newark, NJ. Courtney has academic degrees from Oberlin Conservatory '04 (BM), Rutgers University '07 (MM), and Columbia University '09 (MA). Currently, Courtney is a Visiting Instructor at Oberlin Conservatory while pursuing a DMA in music composition at Columbia University of New York. Her sophomore CD, self-released in June 2010, is entitled "This Little Light of Mine."

Selected performances include a solo piano composer concert by Courtney Bryan as part of the St. Paul's Chapel Concert Series, and a collaborative project entitled Blood Dazzler by Angela's Pulse premiered at Harlem Stage where Courtney was both composer and performer. Courtney was featured recently as a speaker in the Institute for Research in African-American Studies (IRAAS) Conversation Series at Columbia University and in the Harlem Jazz Shrines Festival, and was featured in the recent Columbia University Institute for Religion, Culture, and Public Life radio documentary "The Harlem Renaissance: Music, Religion, and the Politics of Race."

 Dr. Bryan, on faculty at Tulane University, is a much-lauded composer and performer who can be heard locally at the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Center and other intimate venues. She has performed across the globe at festivals and in concert halls, and, as a music educator, has developed programs to guide young musicians in improvisation, composition, and music technology.

In 2023 it was announced that Dr Bryan had been selected for a prestigious "genius grant" from the MacArthur Foundation.