Jonathan Mead

Jonathan Mead was born in South Wales in 1962, and his early musical experiences were at the Morriston Citadel Salvation Army.

Jonathan entered Cardiff University in 1980 and studied piano, trumpet and composition. There he discovered the music of Welsh Composer Alun Hoddinott, who was the Professor at this time. This opened his mind up to a whole new world of music composition. 

After university, Jonathan trained as a teacher gaining his P.G.C.E. and he spent more than 31 years in the education system and after gaining his N.P.Q.H., more than 11 of those years were spent as a headteacher. In 2017, he took the plunge and finished as a headteacher to work as a professional musician. He now makes his living as a pianist, composer and arranger. He is a much sought after accompanist, and accompanies a variety of soloists, choirs, Eisteddfods, and British Army Musicians in their exams. 

Jonathan also trains and conducts brass bands, mixed choirs and male voice choirs in the U.K. He travelled to Nigeria in 2022 to be the Musical Director of the ‘Lagos Music School’ for their Summer School. Here, 250 students gathered together to perform vocal music, brass band music and develop their music theory and composition skills. Jonathan was invited back to Nigeria in 2025 to be the Musical Director of The ‘Territorial Music School’, held in Abuja in August 2025.

Jonathan writes for, and has commissions for, a variety of ensembles, including choirs, string quartets, brass and wind ensembles and orchestra. In 2024, he was commissioned to write a new SATB song for the 150th Anniversary of The Salvation Army in Wales. This was sung by 150+ singers (including the International Staff Songsters) at the International Convention Centre Wales in July 2024. The song, called ‘Dyma Gariad’, was published by the Salvation Army in January 2025. 

Jonathan has more than 50 pieces published by a variety of music publishing companies. One of Jonathan’s biggest commissions to date was in 2022, from Pontardulais Town Brass Band. Funding for this was made available through ‘Tŷ Cerdd’ Wales, to write a large-scale work for brass band, male voice choir, soprano (vocal) soloist, percussion, piano and organ called ‘Footsteps’.

In 2026, Jonathan was commissioned to write a piece for Ynyshir Brass Band to celebrate the 80th year of the Reforming of the band after World War Two. This again, was funded by a grant from Tŷ Cerdd. The World Premiere Performance of this new piece called, ‘Echoes of The Valley’ will be in January 2027.