Jonathan Sokol (b. 1981) was introduced to music at a young age. A native of Cleveland, Ohio and the son of two music educators, he began piano study at six and trombone at nine. Most of his musical upbringing was spent with these two instruments, and he began composing in his high school years.

Two scholarships encouraged Sokol to further compositional studies at Baldwin-Wallace College in Berea, Ohio, where he received his Bachelor of Music Degree and was a student of the College's composer-in-residence, Loris Chobanian. Equally dividing his focus between composition and performance, he also continued his pursuit of both piano and trombone at B-W, later making time to study the organ, the violin and several early music instruments.

Following Baldwin-Wallace, Sokol studied with Michael Gandolfi at New England Conservatory, where he received his Masters degree with Honors and Distinction in Performance, and with Sydney Hodkinson at the Aspen Music Festival. He currently lives in Bloomington, Indiana, where he is a Doctoral Fellow and Associate Instructor at Indiana University's Jacobs School of Music; he will again be studying with Gandolfi in the fall, and with Claude Baker in the spring.

Continuing his interest in trombone performance, Sokol has appeared at numerous venues in the greater Cleveland, Chicago, Boston and Bloomington areas, with such groups as the Socially Awkward Composers (as the guest composer/performer), the Leftovers, and the Bloomington Symphony Orchestra. He is now pursuing a Doctoral Minor in trombone and studies with Carl Lenthe.

Sokol's music has been performed by ensembles and soloists throughout the country, including the NEC Symphony and Philharmonia, the Cleveland Chamber Symphony and the Boston Modern Orchestra Project; and he has received international performances in both the United Kingdom and the Netherlands.

Sokol has been the recipient of an ASCAP Honorable Mention; has received a Susan and Ford Schumann Scholarship for the Aspen Music Festival and School; has won the 8^th annual NEC/BMOP ConNECtion competition; has won the 2008 Indiana University Kuttner String Quartet composition competition; and has most recently been named a winning participant in the Indiana University/Bloomington Schools KidsCompose project.

Current projects include A Mythology, an Orchestral work, and the Strange Peace, a mixed ensemble work for the upcoming Hammer & Nail collaboration.