BIO

Jonathan Morgan is a Los Angeles-based violist immersed in adventurous classical & contemporary music making. When not performing solo, Jonathan shares the stage with international pop stars, indie singer-songwriters, feminist heavy metal bands, professional orchestras, choirs, string ensembles, and mixed instrumental and vocal groups of all permutations. He holds degrees from the Peabody Conservatory, the Cleveland Institute of Music, and UC Santa Barbara. He has served on the teaching faculty of Cal Poly San Luis Obispo and the Preparatory and Continuing Education Department of the Cleveland Institute of Music. Visit JonathanMorganMusic.com to learn more.

Jonathan Morgan is a Los Angeles–based violist who collaborates closely with composers, performers, and producers to bring music to life through dynamic performances and recordings. He co-founded the Now Hear Ensemble, recording Made in California and the video for Florent Ghys’ 4 Bucolic Machines. He has also appeared for several years as a guest musician with the Grammy-nominated Wild Up.

As a session musician in Los Angeles, Jonathan has recorded original music for film and television media, and music by mainstream pop, rock, rap, and alternative artists around the world, such as Katherine Farnham, Victor Bellomo, Seung Hwan Lee, Nell, Jong Shin Yoon, Si-kyung Sung, Sae Byul Park, Joon-Il Jung, and Lucid Fall. Recent film credits include performances in the scores for the documentary film Sound of Identity: Lucia Lucas as Don Giovanni, which chronicles the first transgender woman ever to perform as Don Giovanni in a professional opera, and the film G.O.D. (Givers of Death) - a 2019 apocalyptic sci-fi tale of redemption, and the film Rampant - a South Korean period action zombie horror. He’s also performed in orchestras for the soundtracks of the films Under The Skin, Jackie, Dawson City: Frozen Time, Kingdom, and Train to Busan.

As a church musician, Jonathan appears as the featured soloist with the Choir of St. Barbara Parish on their album My Hope Is Arisen, recorded live at the Old Mission Santa Barbara, performing Russell Schulz-Widmar’s Good Friday Anthems for solo viola and choir. He has collaborated with choirs and vocal soloists across denominations while maintaining a six-year string quartet residency at El Montecito Presbyterian Church.

As a musician for weddings and private events, Jonathan enjoys performing solo and chamber music for audiences seeking special ambience. He has appeared at more than 500 galas, charity balls, weddings, funerals, services, memorials, bar/bat mitzvahs, and private celebrations. Before relocating to California, he performed aboard the Holland America cruise ship Zuiderdam as violist of Adagio Strings on Caribbean tours.

As a music educator, Jonathan served on the viola faculty at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo and is a frequent guest clinician for the Santa Barbara Youth Symphony. He taught for ten years in public schools through the Santa Barbara Symphony education suite and previously served on the faculties of the Cleveland Institute of Music Preparatory Department and the Solon Center for the Arts, teaching violin, viola, and chamber music to pre-conservatory and adult students.

As a recitalist, Jonathan has given solo and chamber performances of new and traditional repertoire at festivals and concert series including Synchromy, Tuesdays at Monk Space, Carlsbad Music Festival, SEAMUS, NOW Festival, UCSB Summer Music Festival, Chatter, NYC Electroacoustic Music Festival, Montecito Summer Music Festival, the Yehudi Menuhin Chamber Music Seminar, Texas Music Festival, and Brevard Music Festival. He has held residencies at the Avaloch Farm Music Institute and was one of only eleven musicians selected by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation for the Domaine Forget chamber music course. At the Banff Centre, he performed in masterclasses, chamber and orchestral concerts, and recorded Osvaldo Golijov’s original music, later used in the Beijing Olympic Games Opening Ceremony.

Jonathan holds a Doctor of Musical Arts from the University of California, Santa Barbara, a Master of Music from the Cleveland Institute of Music, and a Bachelor of Music from the Peabody Institute of the Johns Hopkins University. His principal teachers and mentors include Helen Callus, Jeffrey Irvine, Lynne Ramsey, Victoria Chiang, Richard Field, William Preucil, Peter Salaff, and the Cavani Quartet. He performs on an Amati-pattern viola commissioned in 2006 from New York luthier Guy Rabut, with bows by Bernard Walke, CodaBow, and CarBow, and amplifies his sound with a DPA 4061 microphone when appropriate. Visit JonathanMorganMusic.comto learn more.