Ennis Harris is a composer, arranger, saxophonist, and flutist from Exeter, California. His music seeks to blur genre and cultural boundaries through musical storytelling. He is currently based in Los Angeles.

As a composer and arranger, Ennis enjoys writing for various settings.

His arrangement of Nino Rota’s iconic La Dolce Vita Finale was performed by the Orchestre Sinfonica del Conservatorio Niccolò Piccini, featuring Joe Lovano and conducted by Vince Mendoza. His piece From The Wind, That Which Augurs, is set to premiere with the 2026 TMEA Symphonic Orchestra conducted by Dr. Larry Livingston.

Ennis created original arrangements in collaboration with the University of Southern California, Thornton School of Music Dean Jason King and conducting chair Larry Livingston, for the 2025 Quincy Jones Symphonic. Ennis’ work included reimagined orchestrations of Jones’ film music (The Color Purple, In Cold Blood, and more) as well as re-imaginations of his pop collaborations . Ennis arranged Just Once for Symphonic Orchestra to feature Yafeu Tyhimba with industry veterans Greg Phillinganes and JR Robinson. He also created a fresh rendition of Everything Must Change featuring Seth Parker Woods and Derrick Lawrence.

He is a 2024 recipient of the BMI Composer Award for his Concertino for Clarinet and Orchestra, entitled Adarna. That year, Ennis also received 1st prize in the Van Alexander Arranging Competition presented by ASMAC, for his Piazzolla-Tango inspired arrangement of Duke Ellington’s “The Lake”.

He was the 2023 recipient of the Jeff Clayton New Note Commission Award by the Los Angeles Jazz Society. For this Ennis wrote Images and Silhouettes, a 23 minute large-scale work for 19-piece Jazz Chamber Ensemble. The piece was premiered at the Angel City Jazz Festival.

Earlier that year, he won the International Society of Jazz Arrangers and Composers (ISJAC)/USF Prize For Emerging Black Composers for his piece Eye In The Sky written for Big Band. In 2022, his piece Portrait Poem, written for Chamber Orchestra and Jazz Septet, won the Herb Alpert Young Jazz Composer Award. He has also been commissioned by theBABAorchestra, who premiered his piece Ruggell in the fall of that year.

As a saxophonist and flutist, Ennis has performed with artists such as The Jon Hatamiya Sextet, The Jon Hatamiya Big Band, The Bill Holman Big Band, Pete Escovedo, The 7Teen Big Band, and Sammy Miller and The Congregation. In 2023, Ennis performed with Red Bull Symphonic and acclaimed producer Metro Boomin, led under the baton of Anthony Parnther. He has also been a featured soloist with the San Bernadino Symphony. Ennis was a 2025 Ravinia-Steans Institute Jazz Fellow.

Ennis holds a B.A. in Global Jazz Studies from UCLA, and an M.M. in Jazz Performance from the University of Southern California. He received his DMA in Jazz Studies from the University of Southern California, with an academic field in Music Teaching and Learning, and elective fields in Composition and Instrumental Conducting.