About Jonah

Bio:

Jonah Barnett is a guitarist/multi-instrumentalist, award-winning composer, and educator. Holding a Master of Music in Jazz Composition from the Manhattan School of Music and a double Bachelors of Music in Jazz Guitar and Music Composition from James Madison University, Jonah is now on faculty as the Professor of Jazz Guitar at the University of William and Mary. As an active member of the D.C. and NYC music scenes, Jonah works in a multitude of genres and styles. Jonah is the music supervisor and orchestrator for two ongoing Off-Broadway musical theater productions: The Pyramid: A 'Dance Moms' Musical Parody, and Alan Turing and the Queen of the Night. Jonah also currently works for Jazz Composers Present as video editor and social media manager, and is a member of the BMI Jazz Composers' Workshop. Upcoming projects of Jonah's include a jazz guitar trio album featuring music from video games, and continuing his work as an active YouTube content creator.

An award-winning composer and arranger, Jonah has worked with artists including: Ingrid Jensen, Jaleel Shaw, Donny McCaslin, Elizabeth Teeter, Emily Loesser, Daniel Jamieson, Tireek Cody, and many others. Jonah is the winner of the 2025 ASCAP Herb Alpert Young Jazz Composers Award. He was also a recipient of the Ted and Sandra Ballowe Scholarship at JMU, and of the ASCAP/Fran Morgenstern Davis Scholarship while at MSM. Jonah has studied guitar with Mike Moreno and Adam Larrabee. In composition Jonah has studied with Mike Holober, Darcy James Argue, Eric Guinivan, Jason Haney, and Amanda Bono.

As a performer and recording artist, Jonah excels on electric, steel string acoustic, and nylon string guitars, as well as mandolin, tenor banjo, ukulele, dobro/slide guitar, electric bass, saxophones, keyboards, and a smattering of other instruments. Jonah has performed in an large variety of styles at renowned venues such as: The Players Theater, 54 Below, Dizzy’s Jazz Club, The Manhattan School of Music, James Madison University’s Forbes Center, The University of Virginia’s Culbreth Theater, Fordham University, Virginia Commonwealth University, The University of William and Mary, The Kraine Theater, Green Room 42, and many others.

Jonah has experience facilitating and music directing studio recordings, live performances, and working with live sound and audio equipment. He also has extensive experience with recording, mixing and mastering, DAW’s, film scoring, music notation software, video editing, and musical equipment maintenance. Jonah is an active creator and educator, and is passionate about the impact of education on people’s lives. Jonah prides himself on his motivation, high standards of quality, reliability, and consistency, and above all else making authentic art that people connect to.