Primary Instrument: Drums
Born 1983 in Los Angeles, CA to a family of professional musicians, Jared Schonig began playing the piano at age 5 and the drums at age 14. While a young student in Los Angeles, Jared had numerous opportunities to perform professionally and with various all-star bands, and won 4 Downbeat Student Music Awards, including a “Best Soloist” award, his senior year. Jared attended the Eastman School of Music in Rochester, NY, during which time he received 3 more Downbeat Student Music Awards (including “Best Soloist” and “Top Collegiate Combo”) before receiving his BA in 2005. While still a student, Jared also performed with vibraphonist Joe Locke and Dr. Lonnie Smith at the Rochester International Jazz Festival, among other venues.
Now living in Brooklyn, Jared stays busy performing and recording in New York's jazz, rock, pop and Broadway communities at renowned venues including The Blue Note, Birdland and Jazz at Lincoln Center. Since his arrival in New York, Jared has performed and/or recorded internationally as a sideman with Wynton Marsalis, Fred Hersch, Wycliffe Gordon, Dave Liebman, Charles Pillow, Bob Brookmeyer and Rudy Linka, among others. He also backs Peter Eldridge and the Grammy-award winning vocal jazz group The New York Voices. On Broadway, Jared currently plays or has played onstage for American Idiot (Green Day) and for Pulitzer Prize Winner Next to Normal, and in the orchestras for Grease and the off- Broadway productions of Everyday Rapture featuring Sherie Rene Scott and The Marvelous Wonderettes.
As a co-leader, Jared founded “The Wee Trio” - a collaborative project that includes vibraphonist James Westfall and bassist Dan Loomis - in 2007. Hailed by critics as “definitely a group to watch” (Downbeat), their first album, Capitol Diner Vol. 1, was released in 2008 and was declared “a winning debut” by the Boston Globe. The Wee Trio is about to embark on a national tour to celebrate the Spring 2010 release of Capitol Diner Vol. 2. In his free time, Jared teaches at Poly Prep Country Day School and actively manages a private studio of talented young students.
