Jonathan Bisesi

Appointed Fall 2023

Jonathan Bisesi has held the position of Percussionist with The “President’s Own” United States Marine Band since May 2004. He has been a featured soloist with the Marine Band on multiple occasions, most notably on the Filene Center stage at the Wolf TrapNational Park for the Performing Arts in 2011 & 2016, and the “President’s Own” 2011 & 2017 National Concert Tours. As a jazz performer, he has been featured on vibraphone with the Marine Band Big Band, Latin Ensemble and Jazz Combo, and as a conductor, he has conducted the Marine Band, Chamber Orchestra and Chamber Ensembles.

Mr. Bisesi received a Bachelor of Music degree from the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music and a Masters of Music degree at Boston University. As a student, he wasa fellow of the Pacific Music Festival in Sapporo, Japan (2000) and The Tanglewood Music Center in Lenox, Massachusetts (2001).

Upon completing his formal education, Bisesi was appointed to the Percussion Faculties at both Boston University (2002-2004) and the prestigious Boston University Tanglewood Institute (2002-2003). Mr. Bisesi was on the Percussion Faculty at the Sunderman Conservatory of Music at Gettysburg College from 2013-2015 and is currently serving on the Percussion Facilities of George Mason University School of Music (since 2014), the Boston Conservatory at Berklee (since 2021) and the University of Maryland (since 2022). During the summer of 2020, Mr. Bisesi co-founded, and was a clinician, of the Dragonfly Online Percussion Experience.

As an active performer and educator, Mr. Bisesi has performed with The Cleveland Orchestra, The Boston Symphony Orchestra, The National Symphony Orchestra, The Boston Ballet, The Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra, The Kennedy Center Opera and Ballet Orchestras, The Buffalo Philharmonic, The Cincinnati Pops Orchestra and The New World Symphony. He has presented masterclasses at the Tanglewood Music Center, The Boston Conservatory, the Boston University Tanglewood Institute and his signature xylophone mallets from Dragonfly Percussion were released in 2018.

As a composer, arranger and children’s book author, his works are published by Meredith Music (distributed by GIA Publications), Pocket Publications and Acute By Design. THEN/NOW, his debut solo percussion album, was released in March 2021.

In 2020 Mr. Bisesi co-founded and currently holds the position of secretary on the Board of Directors of the Network for Diversity in Concert Percussion. The NDCP is a 501(c)(3) non-profit whose mission is to increase diversity, equity and inclusion in the concert percussion community.

He currently lives in Annapolis, Maryland with his wife, Meghan, and their daughter, Josephine.