Dr. Jonathan Simmons performs internationally as a cello soloist, chamber, and orchestral musician. In the USA he toured North Carolina as cellist of the UNCG Graduate String Quartet and internationally he performed in South Africa at the Stellenbosch International Chamber Music Festival. He has soloed with orchestras in multiple states including giving the USA premiere of Rudolf Matz’s Concerto in Modo Antico as part of his dissertation research. Jonathan is a multiple prize winner in the Tennessee Cello Workshop Competition at the University of Tennessee Knoxville and was also winner of the 45th Annual Ruth Kern Young Artists Concerto Competition in Atlanta. He has performed as recitalist and chamber musician in venues across the southeast including the Sigal Music Museum and the Bo Bartlett Center and on concert series including the Coca-Cola Space Science Center’s Music Under the Dome, and the Festiva Concert Series (Greenwood, SC). Jonathan has attended the Cincinnati Young Artists Cello Academy and Chamber Music Festival (now Ascent International Chamber Music Festival) as a Conservatory Fellow, as well as the Masterworks Festival. He has collaborated in recital with pianist Alexey Trushechkin, violinist Ronald Long (The Chevalier movie), and international cello soloist Wendy Warner.
Jonathan performs with the Greenville, Charleston, and Greensboro Symphonies and as an orchestral cellist has shared the stage with soloists including Emanuel Ax and Joshua Roman. Jonathan holds a BM in Cello Performance summa cum laude from Bob Jones University studying with Dr. Yuriy Leonovich and held graduate assistantships at Columbus State University’s Schwob School of Music (MM) studying with Wendy Warner and at the University of NC Greensboro (DMA) studying with Dr. Alex Ezerman. He has taken masterclasses with Zuil Bailey, Alban Gerhardt, Melissa Kraut, and others and has worked with members of the American Chamber Players, the Rawlins Piano Trio, and the Calidore, Parker, and Fry Street Quartets among others. Jonathan is a researcher for the Cello Museum (www.cellomuseum.org) with whom he has published multiple articles including interviews with talented cellists such as America’s Got Talent competitor Elijah de la Motte. He serves on the faculty of the Orion Chamber Music Society String Camp (Troy, MI) and his teaching experience includes teaching live online lessons to students as far away as Australia.
