Jon Jeffrey Grier holds a D.M.A. in Composition from the University of South Carolina and was Instructor of Music Theory and Composer in Residence at the Greenville Fine Arts Center, a magnet high school of the arts, from 1988 to 2019. He was awarded the 2016 South Carolina Arts Commission Fellowship in Music Composition, the 2016 Composer Commission from the South Carolina Music Teachers Association, and the 2014 Carl Blair Award for Excellence in Arts Education from the Metropolitan Arts Council, and was the winner of the 2009 Rapido! Composition Contest sponsored by the Atlanta Chamber Players. Jon has also played in various jazz ensembles in Greenville, where he lives with wife Marion and Carolina dingo Roxanne.