Jay is a native of Clearwater, Fl., a Furman University graduate and an internationally-recognized composer, arranger, conductor and educator. Jay’s work has been heard during the 1984 Olympic Games in Los Angeles, the 1996 Centennial Olympic Games in Atlanta and the 2002 Winter Olympic Games in Salt Lake City.

In the summer of 2003, his music transcriptions of noted film composer John Williams were premiered by the U.S. Marine Band in a concert at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. and conducted by Williams himself. An encore performance featuring Mr. Williams and the “President’s Own” took place in the summer of 2008.

In addition, Jay was a contributing arranger to a new musical, CyberJam, which opened at the Queen’s Theater in London to rave reviews in the fall of 2003. His arrangements were also featured in “Mix,” which opened in the fall of 2008 in Japan. In 1982, Jay was appointed Director of Bands at Furman University where remained until 1989. He rejoined the Furman faculty in 2000 as Director of Athletic Bands. He has served as Assistant Conductor of the Greenville Symphony Orchestra and remains a principal composer and arranger for the Hal Leonard Corporation, where he has published over 600 compositions and arrangements.

In 2009, Jay was inducted into the Drum Corps International Hall of Fame. He is also a member of the American Bandmasters Association and a 2010 inductee to the South Carolina Band Directors Hall of Fame.