A California native, Jeffrey Parola began piano studies in his youth, and started to improvise and compose shortly thereafter. He later received a B.A. in composition at UCLA in 2002, and an M.M. in composition at the S.F. Conservatory of Music in 2005. His works have earned for him several honors, including first place prize at the 2005 SFCM Art Song Composition Competition, winner of the 2009 Highsmith Orchestral Composition Competition, and an honorable mention for the 2009 EAMA Prize. Parola is composer-in-residence for the New York City-based ensemble, Choral Chameleon, for the 2009-2010 season, and will begin doctoral studies and teaching at the University of Southern California in the Fall of 2010.