Jonathan Hartman was born in 1974 in Cleveland, Ohio. At age ten, his grandfather, Robert Morgan, gave him a saxophone and encouraged him to play. As head engraver at King Musical Instruments for over forty years, Mr. Morgan engraved horns for jazz musicians Dizzy Gillespie, Charlie Parker, Julian “Cannonball” Adderley, and many other legendary musicians.  He exposed Jonathan to jazz and older popular songs, which inspired him to explore, study, and create. By high school, Hartman had learned to play the saxophone, flute and piano, as well as studied harmony, composition, and arranging. With these skills he began his professional career at age 15.

Hartman attended Capital University in Columbus, Ohio, and then the prestigious jazz studies program at William Paterson College.   After taking time off from school to perform, he finished his studies and graduated Magna cum Laude from Cleveland State University with a bachelor’s degree in Music Performance.  Among others, Hartman has studied with George Garzone, Gary Smulyan, Clark Terry, and Grammy award winners Joe Lovano and Brian Lynch.  

Over the course of an eighteen-year musical career, Hartman has worked in many different musical environments.  These include performances with jazz quartets, big bands, cabaret singers, Latin and Brazillian bands, Hammond B3 soul groups, R&B groups, and musicals.  He maintained a private teaching studio for ten years and additionally taught at the Cleveland Music School Settlement (the 2nd largest private arts academy in the United States) and the New York Pops Education program at Carnegie Hall.  He has trained hundreds of young musicians. His musical career has taken him to every major city in the United States, the Caribean, Canada, and France.

After many years of performing and writing/arranging, Jonathan decided to focus exclusively on music composition.  His love of film and music eventually led him to explore the possibility of film scoring.  In 2006, he was accepted into the prestigious graduate music program at New York University. While attending NYU, he studied film music editing with Tim Starnes (The Lord of the Rings, The Departed) and film scoring with Dr. Ron Sadoff and Ira Newborn (Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, The Naked Gun). He recently completed his Masters degree and currently writes for film and television projects.

Over the last several years, Jonathan Hartman has established himself as one of the rising composers of his generation; a thoroughly modern and unique musical voice.  Evocative and expressive, his writing has been noted for memorable, lyrical themes.  His work is innovative, original and diverse; informed by a wide range of musical styles and genres.

Mr. Hartman has lived in New York City since 1998. He currently resides in Manhattan with his wife and their daughter.