Jonathon Grasse focuses on instrumental chamber music, and improvisation. His 2011 CD "Chamber Music" was released by Centaur Records. His new work, "Time Garden/Afternoon Polyphonies" for oboe, viola, and piano will premiere in March, 2012. His February, 2011 faculty recital at CSU Dominguez Hills featured premieres of three works: "The Informal Sector" (American Gamelan and two trombones); "Higher than the Sky" (mezzo-soprano, guitar, English horn); and "Vaudeville" (large ensemble). The Informal Sector was featured on a May, 2011 concert of LA's Microfest.
Between 1983-98, he studied with Ben Glovinsky, Daniel Kingman, Jorge Liederman, David Cope, and Paul Reale. After formative years in the San Francisco Bay Area, co-founding the Composers Anonymous cooperative he began graduate work at University of California, Santa Cruz in 1993, earning his MA in 1995. After completing doctoral studies in composition and ethnomusicology at UCLA, Grasse taught there from 1999-2005, with works regularly appearing on UCLA faculty composer concerts. He is now an associate professor of music at Cal State University, Dominguez Hills in Carson, in LA's South Bay region.
His works have been performed thoughout Southern California,New York, Europe, Asia, and South America. Some performers of his music include guitarists Peter Yates and Scott Morris, double reed virtuoso Richard Kravchak, Finland’s Pori Sinfonietta, percussionist Gustavo Aguilar, the UCLA Percussion Ensemble, the Los Angeles Flute Quartet, and the Armadillo String Quartet.
Grasse is active in the Los Angeles improvisation scene, performing electric guitar with Surrealestate, the Grasse/Hay/Steck Trio, and the Decisive Instant ensemble. Recordings include "Contrafactum" (2000), "Lacunae" (2010), and "Aporias"(2011). Acoustic Levitation will be releasing his first improvisation CD as leader, in 2012.