Currently in New Haven, CT, trumpeter Jon-Michael Taylor is co-founder of Solaris, an entertainment startup, and a member of New Horizon Brass.  He has enjoyed a varied career in both solo trumpet and orchestral music. Having performed 7 solo recitals since 2020, Jon-Michael actively commissions new music and writes for grants for his ensembles, and his groups have been finalists in 4 major chamber music competitions, winning the Yale School of Music Honors Competition in 2026. His work connected him to Yale Ventures - where he is an associate and arts consultant - and the Tsai CITY development program, where he incubated Solaris. Previously, as a Graduate Assistant at Michigan State, he organized a grant-funded educational series inviting top orchestral players to be guest-presenters on “section playing.”

A distinguished soloist, Jon-Michael won the 2025 honors competition at Michigan State University, and was invited to perform Andre Jolivet’s Concertino for Trumpet, Piano and Strings with the MSU Symphony Orchestra. He was a finalist in the 2025 Frances Walton Solo Competition, hosted by the Ladies Music Club of Seattle and 2026 MTNA Young Artists Solo Competition, held in Chicago. Acclaimed for a “glowing” sound that “broke through the orchestra” in performances of Shostakovich’s Fifth symphony (Boston Music Intelligencer) with the Boston Philharmonic Youth Orchestra, Jon-Michael attended the prestigious Aspen Music Festival and School in the summer of 2022, and was a fellow with the Cincinnati Symphony brass institute in 2024 and 2025. He has performed with the Cincinnati, Grand Rapids and Lansing Symphony Orchestras.