Jay Coles (b. 1995) is a composer, author, conductor, clinician, and public speaker who brings fun, unique, and highly educational music to the stage. His music has been performed all over the world, including the Midwest Clinic. His music appears on various concert and festival lists as well as earned J.W. Pepper's Editor's choice selections. Mr. Coles holds degrees from Vincennes University and Ball State University.

Jay's books are published by Little, Brown Books for Young Readers and Scholastic. His books have appeared in the New York Times, Teen Vogue, Buzzfeed, Bustle, and Entertainment Weekly, among other media outlets. His writing has won numerous award nominations and honors. Jay currently resides in Muncie, Indiana with his wife and cats named Sage and Saffron and when he's not composing music or writing books or cleaning up messes from his cat, he's playing drums for a band and playing video games, two of his favorite things to do. Jay is a member of ASCAP and is thrilled to be a part of the Grand Mess Strings family of composers.