Saxophonist and woodwind specialist Jonathan Yanik is in demand across the world as a performer, teacher and guest clinician. He performs with such varied groups as the National Philharmonic, UrbanArias, Inscape Chamber Orchestra, Doc Scantlin's Imperial Palms Jazz Orchestra, the US Navy Band Saxophone Quartet, the Bachelor Boys wedding band and most notably serves as Principal Saxophone of the United States Navy Band (Washington, DC). Jonathan has been a soloist on over 125 high visibility concerts in 35 states and is a featured performer at the Navy Band's annual International Saxophone Symposium. He was also a featured soloist at both the 2015 Saxophone Congress and Festival in Strasbourg, France, performing the international premiere of David Biedenbender's "Dreams in the Dusk" with La Garde Républicaine (Paris, France), and at the 2018 Saxophone Congress and Festival in Zagreb, Croatia, performing "Concerto after Dvorak" with the Navy Band Saxophone Quartet. Jonathan was the grand prize winner of the Heida Hermanns International Woodwind Competition in 2008.
A highly regarded teacher and guest clinician, Jonathan has given classes as a featured artist at the Midwest Clinic, Brevard Music Festival, University of Louisville, University of Tennessee, Penn State University, Texas A&M, University of Mississippi, Youngstown State University and Kansas City Conservatory among others. He served as Adjunct Professor of Saxophone at Towson University (Towson, MD) from 2011-2014 and is an adjunct faculty member at the Jim Henson School of Arts, Media and Communications (Hyattsville, MD).
Jonathan also has his own solo album, Images, which features many of his own arrangements for saxophone. He earned a Master of Music degree with the highest honors from the University of Michigan, where he studied classical and jazz performance with Donald Sinta and Dr. Andrew Bishop, and a Bachelor of Music Education degree with high distinction from the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music, where he studied with Dr. Otis Murphy. Jonathan is a Vandoren Performing Artist and Yamaha Performing Artist. He resides in Washington, DC with his wife, violist Megan Yanik, their son Benjamin and daughter Charlotte.
