Jonathan Saraga's Profile

Background:

My name is Jonathan Saraga—trumpeter, composer, educator and Doctor of Musical Arts based in New York City. I’ve been performing, recording and competing internationally as a trumpeter, flugelhornist composer, and arranger since 2002. I can be heard on 30+ studio albums, in 250+ YouTube videos, and my work has engaged with audiences in over 500 cities, nearly 70 countries and just short of 100 different universities. I hold 9 years of Conservatory training, 3 degrees in Music Performance/Jazz Studies, as well as 30 international awards, grants and/or commissions from 25 different organizations. I’ve performed extensively throughout Europe, Asia, Central America, the Caribbean, Canada and the U.S., including via multiple national tours. I headlined a jazz festival, performed in front of 10,000 people, and have worked as a trumpeter and flugelhornist for many Grammy nominated and/or winning artists; notably Maria Schneider, Darcy James Argue, Orrin Evans, Arturo O'Farrill, Tyshawn Sorey, Jimmy Greene, Steve Coleman, Henry Cole, Remy Le Boeuf, Dan Pugash/Nicole Zuraitis, Steven Feifke, Migiwa Miyajima, Manuel Valera, Samuel Torres, Jihye Lee, the Revive Big Band, the Birdland Big Band, the Mingus Big Band, the Terraza Big Band, and Brass Against. I’ve performed at prestigious venues such as Carnegie Hall, Symphony Space, the Barclay’s Center, the Jazz Standard, Birdland Jazz Club, the Jazz Gallery, Barclay's Center, Smoke Jazz Club, Rockefeller Center, the Blue Note, Jazz at Lincoln Center, Le Poisson Rouge, the Iridium, Joe's Pub, the Metropolitan Museum of Art and Smalls Jazz Club to name only a few. Besides professing a passion and skillset for the playing and writing of music within the jazz and classical idioms, my usage of sound draws from and contributes to many other genres, forms of art and human expression. I’ve performed in Marc Jacobs fashion runway shows, as part of sound baths for the New Life Expo, for Yoga classes at Jivamukti, the Three Jewels and Sacred Sounds Yoga, as a musical aid for art exhibitions presented by ChaShaMa, as a sound-facilitator at meditation classes for WeWork, as well as an accompanist for dance classes, workshops and performances presented by the Martha Graham Dance Academy and the Jeoffrey Ballet School. I’ve also performed at services and gatherings held at synagogues, churches and cultural-preservation centers including St. Peter's Church at the Citicorp Center, the Tibet House, Triskelion Arts, the Jewish Community Center and the New York Insight Meditation Center to name a few. My study, practice and devotion to music is at the forefront of my purpose in life. My musical pursuits are fueled by an incessant need to understand the human condition, as well as my own quest for truth and self- realization. Disciplinary arts such as Yoga, meditation, shadow-work, resistance training and extra-sensory awareness practices have helped guide me towards the confrontation and resolution of traumas, conditioned beliefs, mental constructs as well as the depths of who and what I am. It is from this place that the music I play and write exists, and while I enjoy creating art that amazes and dazzles people, to help others connect and re-center with their true self is one of my ultimate goals as both a performing artist and composer.