Jonathan is a percussionist with over 28 years of experience. He first started playing drum set at the age of 9 for his church. In middle school, he began his formal music training as a saxophone player. When Jonathan was introduced to marching band and marching drumline as a freshman in high school, he was hooked. He switched to tenors sophomore year and then snare for his junior and senior year. During his junior year of high school (’98), he was also a member of the Perspective Indoor Percussion Ensemble out of Palm Harbor, FL.
After high school, Jonathan was hired as a percussionist for the Walt Disney World Corporation from 1999-2001 in the “Tapestry of Nations” show at Epcot. He also became the percussion instructor and arranger for the Haines City High School Emerald Brigade (’99-’00). After his first successful year of teaching at his alma mater, Jonathan was asked to come on staff with the Citrus High School Marching Canes for the 2000-2001 season. After that season, he wanted to work closer to his Kissimmee home and joined the Poinciana High School Marching Band as percussion instructor and arranger.
Between 2002 and 2011, Jonathan took a break from teaching to work on his professional career and family. During that time he has been an active member of several worship bands and is currently an active worship team member at Calvary Church in Inverness, FL.
In October 2011, Jonathan rejoined the Marching Canes as percussion caption head and arranger. During his time with Citrus, the percussion program won many awards.
Jonathan joined RPT Percussion as a tenor technician for the 2013 season. In 2014, he was the Ensemble Director & Arranger for Citrus Indoor. Jonathan has also been the Battery Arranger and Consultant for the Class D State Grand Champions, Star City Bulldog Regiment, in Star City, Arkansas since 2014. In 2015, the Star City Bulldog Regiment won the National Chick-fil-A bowl for their respective class for marching field show and best percussion in their class.
Jonathan is also one of the founders and a charter staff member for Heat Wave Drum & Bugle Corps. During his tenure at Heat Wave, Jonathan held the position of Corps Director (2015-2016) and was appointed by the Board of Directors as Executive Director/CEO (2016-2019).
Currently, Jonathan is the Percussion Caption Head & Arranger for South Sumter High School in Bushnell, FL, and a Program Consultant for Star City High School in Star City, AR.
Since 2013, Jonathan has helped out with RPT Percussion on a part-time basis. During the 2019 season, Jonathan stepped into a coordinator role mid-season. He helped RPT finish a strong 10-year anniversary season by helping the group achieve WGI A-Class Finals at the WGI Championships in Dayton, OH.
Along with arranging and designing for various marching band groups, Jonathan has done some arranging and design in the commercial arena as well. Jonathan had the opportunity to write and helped choreograph a commercial for Publix Supermarket in 2018, as well as writing for a pharmaceutical convention with Focus3D.
Jonathan currently resides in Inverness, Florida with his wife of 16 years, his four children, and the family dog. Jonathan is an Educational Artist for Vic Firth and Zildjian.