Jon Esnaola (San Sebastián, 2000) studied at the Francisco Escudero Professional Conservatory of Music and, in 2024, completed his composition studies at Musikene, the Higher Music Centre of the Basque Country, where he studied with Gabriel Erkoreka, Ramón Lazkano, Zuriñe Gerenabarrena, and Stefano Scarani. He is currently pursuing a Master’s degree in Artistic Education in Contemporary Music Creation at Musikene and serves as a member of the board of directors of Musikagileak (Basque–Navarre Association of Composers).

Esnaola has received several awards, including Composition Scholarships from the Federació de Joventuts Musicals de Catalunya, with the patronage of the Fundación Ferrer de Música (2026); the Moliner International Percussion Composition Award (MIPCA, 2026); a Special Prize at the 5th Ise-Shima International Composition Competition in Japan (2025); the Eusko-Ikaskuntza Prize (Basque Studies Center, 2025); the Teatro de la Zarzuela Composition Prize in Madrid (2024); the Italy Percussive Art Society Prize (2023); First Prize at Young Musicians of Euskadi in the Composition category (2021); and First Prize at Young Musicians of Euskadi in the Percussion and Chamber Ensemble categories (2019).

His music has been performed at venues and festivals such as the Bernaola Cycle in Vitoria-Gasteiz (2025), the Kuraia Cycle in Bilbao (2022), the After Cage Festival (2024), the XV Contemporary Music Circuit Musikagileak (2025, 2026), the Nightingale Concert Hall in Reno (2022), Teatro de la Zarzuela in Madrid (2024), the Euskalduna Palace in Bilbao (2024, 2025), the Victoria Eugenia Theatre and the Kursaal in San Sebastián (2025), the Museum of Contemporary Art of Vigo (2024), as well as the Oteiza Museum, Chillida Leku Museum, San Telmo Museum, and the International Centre of Contemporary Culture Tabakalera. His works have also been recorded on CD by Pilar Fontalba and the Musikene Sinfonietta.

He has collaborated with ensembles such as the London Sinfonietta, Cuarteto Iberia, Ensemble Kuraia, the Joven Orquesta de Euskal Herria (EGO), the Bilbao Symphonic Band, the Vitoria-Gasteiz Symphonic Band, and Orfeón Donostiarra, as well as with conductors and performers including Diego Martin-Etxebarria, José R. Pascual Vilaplana, Unai Urrecho, Pilar Fontalba, Jabi Alonso, Alexandre da Costa, and Jülide Yalçin, among others.

His education has been further enriched through masterclasses and composition courses given by Chaya Czernowin (2025), Annesley Black (2025), Vito Žuraj (2025), José Manuel López-López (2025), Jānis Petraškevičs (2025), Johannes Schöllhorn (2025), Hannah Hartman (2024), Joan Magrané (2024), George Benjamin (2024), Michael Jarrell (2024), Alberto Posadas (2024), Mauro Lanza (2024), James Dillon (2023), Patricia Alessandrini (2023), Luis Codera Puzo (2023), Raquel García Tomás (2022), Toshio Hosokawa (2022), Pascal Dusapin (2021), and Franck Bedrossian (2021), among others.