Jonah Cristall-Clarke (arranger, bandleader, pianist) started taking piano lessons at age seven in 1990, while living in Peterborough. He began to focus intensively on jazz when he and two friends formed a trio in 1999. After being honoured with multiple music and arts scholarships at his high school graduation, Jonah went on to earn a Bachelor of Music degree specializing in Jazz Performance at the University of Toronto’s Faculty of Music. There he was awarded the Margaret E. Read Jazz Scholarship, the Music Alumni Award, and the Don Wright Scholarship for arranging. He has had the good fortune of studying privately with pianist and composer Fredrick Pritchard, as well as jazz pianists David Restivo, Gary Williamson, and David Braid. At U of T Jonah took part in Terry Promane’s Jazz Arranging class, which was pivotal in his musical growth. With performing experience ranging from restaurants to concert halls, some of Jonah’s notable performances include two appearances at the Ottawa Jazz Festival, four times at the Lakefield Jazz Festival, three times at the Peterborough Downtown Jazz in Restaurants Tour, as well as the Toronto Jazz Festival, the Peterborough Jazz Festival, the Markham Jazz Festival, the Barrie Jazz Festival, Roy Thomson Hall, and with U of T Jazz Ensembles at the Rex Jazz and Blues Bar and the Ontario Science Centre (a concert recorded for Jazz FM Radio). As well as performing regularly with jazz combos, Jonah currently leads a nine-piece band that showcases his own arrangements of standards and jazz compositions. The Jonah Cristall-Clarke Nonet made its premier performance at the Distillery Jazz Festival in the spring of 2005, with more recent Toronto appearances at venues like the Rex and Dominion on Queen.