Jonathan Romppel

Jonathan Romppel is a professional pianist, keyboardist, organist, arranger, producer, composer, and musical director. Comfortably proficient in all contemporary styles, from Pop to Gospel to Jazz to RnB to Country, he has a unique approach to playing the keys. His first influences as a pianist come from George Duke, Jeff Lorber, Cory Henry, and Shaun Martin.

Coming from a musical family in a small town in Germany and growing up with Black music like Soul, RnB and Jazz prepared Jonathan for a life with a unique musical identity. Starting classical piano lessons at age 5, singing in classical boy's choir at 8, playing in church at 10, and autodidactically learning to play the drums, guitar, bass, harmonica, and more in his teen years paved the way for a steep musical career. Discovering the music of Stevie Wonder for himself at age 13 was a major turning point when he started to take music seriously and went on a never-ending journey to explore new sounds.

At 18 years, Jonathan had already played in Big Bands, Jazz Quartets, Classical and Early music on harpsichord, led worship at his church, directed a choir, and formed, arranged for, and been the musical director for several bands with styles ranging from Pop to Fusion to Toto. In 2014, he won the Jazz competition 'Jugend Jazzt' in his state, and performed at the Idstein Jazz Festival and other festivals around his hometown.

In 2016, Jonathan received a scholarship to the prestigious Berklee College of Music, fulfilling his dream of studying in America. There he would quickly become one of the most sought-after pianists on campus, especially valued as a keyboardist in shows, and accompanist for singers. It was here that he also got the chance to delve deeper into Gospel music and play at several different churches around the Northeast.

Graduating in merely 3 years with a major in Contemporary Writing and Production, he studied under greats such as Victor Wooten, Dennis Montgomery III, Tia Fuller (Beyonce), and Alain Mallet, and performed with bassist Chuck Rainey (Aretha Franklin, Steely Dan), singer Ray Greene (Tower of Power), and played in the renowned gospel groups Reverence Gospel Choir and Overjoyed. In 2019, he was part of the Commencement Concert in the Agganis Arena in Boston, paying tribute to Justin Timberlake, Missy Elliot, and Alex Lacamoire.

Moving to Los Angeles to further pursue his career as a professional musician, Jonathan has since played with artists such as Erica Campbell (Mary Mary), Sandra Crouch, Verdine White (Earth, Wind & Fire), No. 1-hit artist Guordan Banks, and many more, including members from Kanye's choir.

Jonathan is part of the European Christian Artists Council and has been the leader of the young people at the Christian Artists Seminar since 2018, where he has been an invited artists and has performed with artists such as Paul van der Feen (Metropol Orkest), Paul Field, and Chris Eaton.