Baltimore-based trumpet player Jonah Kappraff has established himself as a uniquely gifted combination of performer and pedagogue. Throughout ten years of performing and teaching in Boston, MA, and five years in central Pennsylvania, Jonah had the pleasure of performing with many of finest ensembles in the country and developed a reputation as a dedicated, insightful, and creative trumpet instructor. Since 2020, Jonah has been established himself as a valued member of the Baltimore and Washington DC freelance community.

Jonah's training took him from his childhood in New Jersey, where he studied with David Larson of the NJ Symphony, to the Oberlin Conservatory in 2001, where he studied with the LA studio regular, Roy Poper. Following the completion of both a Bachelor's in trumpet performance and Music Education, Jonah began a Master's degree in trumpet performance at Boston University, where he studied with international soloist, Terry Everson. Subsequent studies with legendary pedagogue Steve Emery greatly shaped Jonah's playing and approach to teaching trumpet. 

A versatile musician, Jonah specializes in orchestral, solo, and chamber music performance, in addition to musical theater and commercial styles. Jonah has participated in the Scotia Festival of Music, the Hot Springs Music Festival, the Oberlin in Italy opera festival, and the Monadnock Music Festival, and has served as principal trumpet of the American Wind Symphony and the MasterWorks Music Festival. As a freelance musician in Boston, Jonah performed with the Marsh Chapel Collegium Musicum and the Lexington Symphony, and was a member of the Modern Brass Quintet. In addition to working in dozens of musical theater pits, he also performed with the Boston Modern Orchestra Project, Odyssey Opera, the Boston Pops, the Boston Ballet Orchestra, and the Lorelei Ensemble. Jonah has collaborated regularly with avant-garde clarinetist and composer, Evan Ziporyn, and serves as principal trumpet of his Ambient Orchestra, which has toured nationally and internationally presenting David Bowie’s Blackstar conceived as a cello concerto featuring cellist Maya Beiser. In Pennsylvania, Jonah performed with the Pennsylvania Chamber Orchestra, Penn’s Woods Music Festival, and the Williamsport Symphony, as well as the York Symphony, Northeast PA Philharmonic, and the Paragon Ragtime Orchestra. Recently, Jonah performed Copland’s Quiet City with the MIT Symphony orchestra and was the featured soloist with the Penn Central Wind Band, performing Robert Russell Bennett’s Rose Variations. Jonah also performed J.S. Bach’s Brandenburg Concerto no. 2 with both the Allegretto Chamber Orchestra of Lancaster and the Nantucket Baroque Festival.  

As a recitalist and clinician Jonah has presented solo concerts and masterclasses at Keene State College, MIT, Bucknell, Lycoming College, and Harvard University, as well as around the Greater Boston area. A devoted music educator, Jonah has over fifteen years of private teaching experience, having worked with young beginners through adult comeback players. Jonah currently serves on the faculty of the Peabody Preparatory division and his robust private studio has included members of the major Massachusetts and Maryland youth orchestras, District and All-State bands, and award-winning competitors in the National Trumpet Competition. Additionally, Jonah has conducted high school and college wind bands, and coached brass chamber music at summer music camps and high schools in the U.S. and Belgium. 

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