Mr. Jonathan Armstrong

Professor, Department of Music

Jonathan Armstrong is a saxophonist, composer, and educator who serves as the Director of Jazz and Commercial Music at Idaho State University. He moved to Pocatello in 2015 after working as a professional musician in Los Angeles for nine years. Jonathan has a creative and dynamic career as a bandleader, performer, composer, and educator. He is also an endorsed artist for Antigua Winds, and plays Antigua Winds Pro One Saxophones.

As a composer, Jonathan has written for various jazz ensembles and chamber groups, choir, and orchestra. His 2025 concerto for saxophone and orchestra, “Voluntary Breath” was performed by two different orchestras, with two future scheduled performances coming. He is also passionate about collaborating with artists from other disciplines. In addition to writing for theater, dance, and film, he composes both instrumental and vocal music based on poetry.

Jonathan has designed and built a recording studio for ISU students, and co-created the Commercial Music degree. Incorporating the studio, the degree program, and his ensembles, Jonathan is developing an educational experience that prepares each student for a dynamic and successful career as a contemporary musician. He has won numerous arts grants and invites world-class musicians to perform and record alongside ISU music students. He adores his wife Erin and their children Nora and Breen, and the astonishing beauty of the landscape and humans of Idaho.