AARON ALON earned his BA in music from the University of Chicago and his MM in composition from the Cleveland Institute of Music. He is currently working toward his doctorate in composition at Rice University's Shepherd School of Music. His past composition teachers include Marta Ptaszynska, Margaret Brouwer, Easley Blackwood, Jean Milew, and Orianna Webb. He has also studied music theory with Richard Cohn, Thomas Christensen, and Larry Zbikowski; piano with Judson Billings and Gurminder Bhogal; voice with Andrea Holliday and Beverley Rinaldi; and jazz performance and arranging with Paul Ferguson.

He has received awards from the National Association of Composers, the National Federation of Music Clubs, SCI/ASCAP, the Renée B. Fisher Composer Awards, the Tampa Bay Composers' Forum, the Ohio Federation of Music Clubs, and the Olga and Paul Menn Foundation. His works have been performed throughout the US, including Chicago, Los Angeles, Cleveland, San Antonio, Kearney, and St. Petersburg. He is a member of the Phi Beta Kappa Society and a past chapter president of Mu Phi Epsilon.

Before joining the Shepherd School of Music preparatory faculty, he tutored high school students in nearly all subjects (1996-1999), taught elementary and middle school drama in Chicago public schools (1999-2001), gave biweekly tutorials in Calculus at the University of Chicago (2001-2003), and tutored K-12 students in all subjects for Cleveland’s Tree of Knowledge (2003-2005). He has also been long active as a private teacher, specializing in music theory, composition, mathematics, and SAT/GRE preparation.

He has a long-standing interest in working with children. In addition to his teaching and tutoring work, he has also performed in children’s theatre and children’s magic shows. He has written piano pieces for young pianists, a ballet based upon the original Peter Pan story, and is currently working on an orchestra piece for young people ’s concerts.