Jonathan Shillingford

Background

About Jonathan Shillingford

Jonathan Shillingford is a jazz trumpet player based in New York City. Born and raised in Miami, Florida, he draws inspiration from his hometown’s rich culture, especially from his Caribbean heritage. Around the house he was surrounded by the music of Kassav', Bob Marley and Lord Kitchner. His parents would later introduce him to the music of Herbie Hancock and Wayne Shorter which influenced his decision to learn more about jazz. Shillingford began his musical journey by picking up piano at 5 years old and later moving to trumpet as his primary instrument at age 9. He enrolled in a community program in Florida called the Greater Miami Youth Symphony excelling in both classical and jazz music. At age 14, Shillingford was accepted into the prestigeous New World School of the Arts. In 2015 and 2016 he participated in the Essentially Ellington competition in New York, hosted by Wynton Marsalis and the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra (JLCO), winning first place the latter year with New World School of the Arts. In 2017, he opened for JLCO with Marsalis in Miami at the Adrienne Arsht Center. The following year Shillingford was a part of the Jazz Band of America, working alongside Sean Jones, and also received a YoungArts award. In 2018 he was accepted into the world-renowned conservatory, Manhattan School of Music, on the ASCAP Fran Morgenstern Davis Scholarship for his BM in Jazz Performance. During his time at Manhattan School of Music Shillingford has studied with Marc Cary, and Jon Faddis. In 2023 he graduated from the Berklee Global Jazz Institute at Berklee College of Music on a full scholarship for his Masters degree. ‍Since arriving in New York, he has played on historic stages such as Lincoln Center’s Rose Hall, Birdland Jazz Club, Smoke Jazz Club, the Jazz Gallery, Dizzy’s Club and Smalls Jazz Club. Shillingford is dedicated to expanding the boundaries of his musical voice in order to fully surrender to the creativity of the moment. Currently he is an Assistant Professor at Berklee College of Music.