Saxophonist and composer Jeff Antoniuk was born in Edmonton, Canada in 1965. He lived in Benin City, Nigeria as a child, and began his musical education there studying classical piano. Since 1986, however, he has spent most of his professional time in the USA.

Mr. Antoniuk attended the renowned University of North Texas, where he earned two degrees, culminating in a Master of Music in Jazz Performance and West African ethnomusicology. He composed for and played with the famed One O'Clock Lab Band for three years, recording as many CD's with the group. Further, he directed one of the school's big bands and taught saxophone and improvisation in the UNT jazz department.

Upon graduation, Mr. Antoniuk and the Unified Jazz Ensemble, a quartet he co-founded, became the flagship of the National Endowment for the Arts “Rural Residency” artist-in-residence program. For four years, he taught, composed and performed full-time under the auspices of the NEA. During this time, he toured Canada, the United States, Russia, Korea, Japan and Okinawa. In 2005, Mr Antoniuk formed his new quartet - "Jeff Antoniuk and The Jazz Update." This bold new group released their first CD, Here Today in January 2007 to rave reviews. Here Today received massive airplay, and spent 10 weeks on the Jazz Top 40 Charts in the USA, and finally reached #3 in Canada. A mixture of Antoniuk compositions and jazz standards, it features Towson faculty trumpet player Dave Ballou as a guest soloist.

In addition to his work as a member of the Towson jazz department, Mr. Antoniuk is the owner of "Jazz Band Masterclass," an adult jazz education program. In 2005, Mr. Antoniuk also founded "Maryland Summer Jazz," a major new summer jazz workshop, which features a faculty of the mid-Atlantic's best jazz players and educators. He is also a longtime member of the rock/funk show band Sound Connection, and is very in demand as a freelance artist in the Baltimore/Washington, DC area.

Mr. Antoniuk's website

Office: CA 4042
Email: jeffantoniuk@comcast.net