Jonathan Fagan recently received his masters degree in Jazz and Contemporary Media from the Eastman School of Music in Rochester, NY. There, he had the privilege of studying privately with Harold Danko, Dave Rivello, and Dariusz Terefenko. Jonathan will forever be grateful for the vast perspectives gained through conversations and lessons with all three of these figures. As a former accompanist of Chet Baker, Lee Konitz, and Gerry Mulligan, Harold Danko offered Jonathan valuable advice on accompanying, collaborating, and improvising in a variety of styles. Dave Rivello passed on many exercises he received while studying with Bob Brookmeyer, providing invaluable compositional approaches. Terefenko’s knowledge of 20th century harmony has pushed Jonathan even farther, clarifying his own personal style in the process. He completed additional course work with mentors like Bill Dobbins, Clay Jenkins, and Jeff Campbell.

Before that, Jonathan graduated with his Bachelor’s degree in Piano Performance (Jazz Emphasis) at Lawrence University, where he studied  privately with Bill Carrothers and José Encarnación. Jonathan attributes much of his growth and musical perspective to Bill’s unorthodox but influential teaching, balanced by José’s more conventional approach and steady guidance. Jonathan was one of the last students to study under Fred Sturm, a figure who served as major inspiration to all that experienced his teaching and writing. On the classical side, Jonathan studied with Catherine Kautsky for four years, accompanying opera studios taught by Kenneth Bozeman and Karen Leigh-Post.