Jonny May is an pianist and piano educator from Southern California. Grandson of the esteemed concert composer/educator Walter May and Juilliard-trained cellist Mary Eleanor May, Jonny was positioned from a young age to pursue a career in music performance and education. One of 8 children, Jonny began classical piano lessons at age 4, and his parents exposed him to many styles of music, including jazz, blues, pop, and rock. "Growing up, Bach, Bill Evans, and the Beatles played on our radio in equal measure," Jonny remembers of his childhood. When Jonny was a young boy, his father, David May, a music entertainment attorney and jazz bassist, would take Jonny with him to his jazz gigs, and Jonny fell in love with jazz standards.  By age 8, Jonny was composing his own melodies at the piano, and by age 14, he was playing in the local college big band.

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As a teenager, Jonny trained with legendary Disneyland Ragtime Pianist Johnny Hodges and jazz pianist Larry Flahive.  By age 16, Jonny was playing professionally at local restaurants and private events, and at age 18, Jonny landed the job as the youngest ever Disneyland Ragtime Pianist.

 

In 2013, Jonny launched his YouTube channel, and since then his piano performances have been viewed over 25 million times and he has amassed an impressive following of over 150,000 subscribers.  The same year, Jonny and co-founder Yannick Lambrecht launched the piano education platform PianoWithJonny.com, where a community of over 9,000 piano students across the world have signed up to learn from Jonny's expert instruction.  The platform features a thriving member community, live workshops, live Q&As, one-on-one interaction with Jonny and other expert coaches, and a growing catalogue of video courses, sheet music, and other piano education resources. 

 

Jonny has played piano at Universal Studios, The Kennedy Center in Washington D.C., and on Comedy Central. He has performed with artists such as Tony Winner Lin Manuel Miranda, Grammy Winner Lari White, Latin American Idol winner Mayré Martínez, actor/comedian Tom Wilson, and the band Postmodern Jukebox.

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