Yvonnick Prené is a professional jazz musician, bandleader, composer, and educator based in the greater New York City area. He is one of the most unique and innovative harmonicists on the scene today. Prené is a revered educator and founder of the New Harmonica School and My Harmonica Studio, and has taught more than 500 students. Additionally, he has written 10 methods about jazz improvisation, jazz etudes and blues harmonica. He also taught at Jazz House Kids, New York Jazz Workshop and Brooklyn Music School.

He grew up in Massy, in the southern suburbs of Paris. He earned a Bachelor of Music (2007) and a Masters of Music degree from Sorbonne University (2011), and a Bachelor of Music in Jazz Performance from the New School of Jazz and Contemporary Music (2012). He has studied with Lee Konitz, Charli Persip, Charles Tolliver, and Reggie Workman, among other leading lights of the music.

Prené has recorded six acclaimed albums as a leader, including Jour de Fete (2013), Wonderful World (2014), Breathe (2015), and New York Moments (2019). He also wrote a composition titled "Mr. Tixier" featured on Scott Tixier’s album Cosmic Adventures on Sunnyside Records. His latest recording, the Jeremy Pelt-produced LISTEN!, was released on Sunnyside, featuring new original compositions and arrangements for his quintet.

Prené has performed and/or recorded with guitarists Peter Bernstein, Steve Cardenas and Pasquale Grasso, pianists Kevin Hays and Jon Cowherd, saxophonist Dayna Stephens, and drummer Bill Stewart, among others. Prené performs more than 100 concerts per year, having performed at major jazz clubs in New York City as sideman or leader — including the Blue Note, the Django, Zinc Bar, The Iridium, Dizzy’s Club, Birdland, The Jazz Gallery and Smalls. He has performed around the world, notably at Winter Jazz Fest (NYC), Bern Jazz Festival (Switzerland), Festival Emoi du Jazz (Ivory Coast), Lamentin Jazz Festival (Martinique), SPAH Harmonica Fest (Tulsa), Hyde Park Jazz Festival (Chicago) and Jazz Sur Seine Festival (Paris).

Additionally, Prené is an ambassador for Hohner; the legendary harmonica brand has chosen him to be the face of their brand-new, flagship 12-hole chromatic harmonica called Xpression.

The NMM Live! Series is made possible by the USD Student Government Association and the South Dakota Arts Council through the Department of Tourism, and the National Endowment for the Arts. Additional support provided by the Jazz Roads Grant funded by South Arts.