Is a native of Denver, Pennsylvania. He received a B.S. degree in Music Education and an M.Ed. degree in Music from Indiana University of Pennsylvania. For eight years he served as a rights and licenses administrator for a major educational music publisher. During that time he served a term on the Executive Board of the Music Publishers Association of America.

As a composer of sacred and secular choral music, Mr. Althouse has more than 600 works in print for choirs of all levels. His music is widely performed throughout the English-speaking world. He is a writer member of ASCAP and is a regular recipient of the ASCAP Special Award for his compositions in the area of standard music. Mr. Althouse has also co-written several cantatas and musicals with his wife, Sally K. Albrecht, compiled and arranged a number of highly regarded vocal solo collections, and is the co-writer, of the best-selling books The Complete Choral Warm-up Book, and Accent on Composers, a reproducible source book for classroom music teachers featuring the music and lives of 22 composers.

His most recent books are Ready to Read Music, a music reading readiness book for young students, and Sixty Music Quizzes, a supplemental book of music quizzes. He is the co-writer, with Sally K. Albrecht, of I Hear America Singing, a choral work performed at the Inauguration of President Barack Obama on January 20, 2009.

Mr. Althouse has a large number of sacred anthems available from The Hope Publishing Company. “Lord I Stretch My Hands to You,” has become a best seller for the company and was even featured on a network television show. Jay lives with his wife Sally in Raleigh, NC.