About
Born in Texas, Jonathan Ware studied at the Eastman School of Music, The Juilliard School and the Hochschule für Musik ‘Hanns Eisler Berlin’, where he now teaches, alongside the Barenboim-Said Academy.
His Awards include 1st Prize with Ludwig Mittelhammer in the International Hugo Wolf Competition and the Pianist’s Prize at the Das Lied, and Wigmore Hall/Kohn Foundation Song Competitions. In 2014 he was selected for representation by Young Classical Artists Trust.
Sought after as a song accompanist and chamber musician, recent highlights include recitals at the Heidelberger Frühling Festival with Golda Schulz, the Konzerthaus Berlin with Elsa Dreisig, the Festival Dialogues at the Mozarteum Salzburg with Mojca Erdmann, the Rheingau Festival with Benjamin Appl, and the Munich Philharmonie and Kölner Philharmonie with Ludwig Mittelhammer.
He has recorded for BBC Radio 3 with Peter Moore and given recitals at Wigmore Hall with Michael Collins, Dame Ann Murray, Ailish Tynan, Nika Goric and Benjamin Appl. In 2017 he returned to the Heidelberger Frühling, Samling Opera and Verbier Festival Academies, and was resident at Snape Maltings with Håkan Hardenberger.
Engagements this season include recitals at Wigmore Hall (with Golda Schulz, Robin Tritschler and Ludwig Mittelhammer), the Aldeburgh Festival and Boulez-Saal. He collaborates with the Vogler Quartet in Europe, and with oboist Olivier Stankiewicz in the US, including their debut at the Morgan Library in New York.
Further afield Jonathan has given recitals at the Alice Tully Hall, Carnegie’s Weill Hall as part of Marilyn Horne’s The Song Continues programme, Lincoln Center with cellist Michael Katz, Ravinia Festival and The Phillips Collection Washington DC. He also undertook a North American tour with mezzo-soprano Tara Erraught. In the UK he has collaborated with Benjamin Baker, Peter Moore and Amy Harman at venues including the Bath International Festival, Saffron Hall, Barbican, the Sage Gateshead, Wiltshire Music Centre and Bridgewater Hall.
Passionate about the song repertory, during the 2012/13 season Jonathan was co-artistic director of a year-long festival devoted to the performance of the complete Schubert Lieder in New York. He has been a member of the accompanying staff of the Steans Institute at Chicago’s Ravinia Festival and the coaching staff of the Internationale Meistersinger Akademie in Neumarkt Germany. He has also worked as a répétiteur with Juilliard Opera, New York City Opera and Frankfurt Opera.
As a soloist Jonathan has given concerts in Dallas, New York, Washington DC, Miami and Hammamatsu in Japan. He won the Grand Prize at the 2005 Kingsville International Competition and was a medalist in the 2002 Missouri Southern, and New York International Piano Competitions. His performances have been broadcast on WQXR (New York), WFMT (Chicago), WRR (Dallas), Bavarian Radio, and on US public television.