Alumni Highlights: Jon Cohen

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Jon Kohen (Music Business ’17) is the founder of @granitetoglass (G2G). Consisting of Kohen on acoustic guitar and vocals, plus supporting musicians including string quartet, pedal steel guitar, and electric guitar, they’ve played to increasingly large audiences over recent months while establishing themselves in New York. Started in 2015 in Lowell, G2G quickly developed a unique sound with string players as accompaniment to Kohen’s delicate, gossamer vocal style. In 2016, G2G released an EP, “Curse the Darkness or Create a Light.” Following an East Coast and New England tour in 2017, they released a full-length LP, “for when you need this.” In 2017, Kohen interned with @edkeaneassociates. “EKA represents mainly jazz acts, as well as a few well-known a Capella groups such as Take 6, and The Manhattan Transfer. I loved the real-world experience I got working there as an intern. If I had interned at a huge agency, I might have gotten little to no hands-on experience. The experience at EKA was fantastic.” After graduating, Kohen moved to New York. “I worked at a small speakers’ bureau in midtown Manhattan called Gotham Artists, where I was a booking agent.” In addition, he started working for a company called Family Matters as a caregiver to a software engineer with muscular dystrophy. He was recently hired full-time by Family Matters as an operations associate. The move to New York was challenging. “For over a year, I could not find band members. String players are hard to convince to join bands, especially an entire quartet,” said Kohen. Finally, last June, Kohen met violinist Jen Ho. “We spoke on the phone, met in person, and immediately hit it off. It wasn’t long until she officially joined Granite to Glass.” The new lineup is currently working on a new album, and gigging in the New York area. “My advisor ay Umass Lowell, Alan Williams, was a huge help to me professionally. He put me in touch with EKA, and my internship got me where I am professionally. I learned the necessary skills, fed my interest, and thrived in my internship thanks to the UML Music Business program.” Before attending UMass Lowell, Kohen graduated from @gannacademy. #musicbusiness

A post shared by UMass Lowell Music Department (@umlmusic) on Feb 7, 2019 at 3:09pm PST