Jason Lyle Black is an American pianist, composer, and Billboard-charting artist.

Biography

Black grew up in

Livermore, California Livermore (formerly Livermorès, Livermore Ranch, and Nottingham) is a city in Alameda County, California. With a 2020 population of 87,955, Livermore is the most populous city in the Tri-Valley. It is located on the eastern edge of Californ ...

. He participated in the final round of the

73rd Scripps National Spelling Bee The 73rd Scripps National Spelling Bee was held in Washington, D.C. at the Grand Hyatt Washington on May 31 – June 1, 2000, sponsored by the E.W. Scripps Company. Twelve-year-old George Abraham Thampy, from Saint Louis, Missouri won the ...

in 2000. Black started learning how to play the piano at age 8, and started playing it backwards at age 14. He went to college at

Brigham Young University Brigham Young University (BYU, sometimes referred to colloquially as The Y) is a private research university in Provo, Utah. It was founded in 1875 by religious leader Brigham Young and is sponsored by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day ...

, where he played concerts and studied accounting. After graduating in 2012, he became a

Certified Public Accountant Certified Public Accountant (CPA) is the title of qualified accountants in numerous countries in the English-speaking world. It is generally equivalent to the title of chartered accountant in other English-speaking countries. In the United Sta ...

, but then decided to focus his career on becoming a touring musician.

Discography

In 2016, Black signed to Stone Angel Music, releasing album ''Piano Preludes'' in May, from producer

Paul Cardall Paul Cardall (born April 24, 1973) is an American pianist known for his original compositions and arrangements of various hymns. His music is frequently categorized as Classical, Christian and New Age. Cardall has had several recordings debut ...

. The album featured the violinist

Jenny Oaks Baker Jenny Oaks Baker (born Jenny June Oaks; May 27, 1975) is a Grammy nominated American violinist and former member of the National Symphony Orchestra. She has released eighteen studio albums, several of which have topped or nearly topped ''Billboar ...

as a guest soloist. ''Piano Preludes'' debuted at #2 on the Billboard New Age chart, spending three weeks in the #2 spot. Music critic Kathy Parsons called the album "masterful", and ''Deseret News'' reporter Sydney Cobb called it "peaceful." Black is also known for his viral videos based on songs from the movies '' Frozen'' and '' Up''. and for his performance on ''

The Ellen DeGeneres Show ''The Ellen DeGeneres Show'' (often shortened to ''Ellen'' or ''The Ellen Show'') is an American daytime television variety comedy talk show that was created and hosted by its namesake Ellen DeGeneres. Debuting on September 8, 2003, it was prod ...

''. Black has previously won the Utah Music Awards.

Personal life

Black grew up in

the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, informally known as the LDS Church or Mormon Church, is a Nontrinitarianism, nontrinitarian Christianity, Christian church that considers itself to be the Restorationism, restoration of the ...

. Two of Black's grandparents are accomplished pianists. Black has been involved in serving the special needs community.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Black, Jason Lyle Living people People from Livermore, California American accountants American classical pianists American male classical pianists American Mormon missionaries in the United States American spellers Musicians from California New-age pianists Brigham Young University alumni Latter Day Saints from California Latter Day Saints from Utah Year of birth missing (living people)