Violist Jonathan William Brown to Join Colburn School Faculty as Professor of Chamber Music

April 29, 2024, 3:57 PM · Jonathan William Brown, violist of the Cuarteto Casals and longtime professor at Barcelona's ESMUC, will join the Colburn School's Conservatory of Music faculty as Professor of Chamber Music, beginning July 1, Colburn announced today.

Violist Jonathan William Brown.

In this role, Brown will oversee a comprehensive strings and piano chamber music program, provide the vision and structure for sequential chamber music training at all levels, and oversee all chamber music performances. He also will join the chamber music and viola faculty in the Music Academy, Colburn’s training program for gifted pre-collegiate musicians.

Since 2002, Brown has been the violist of the Cuarteto Casals, with whom he has performed in all of the major concert halls in Europe, North America, and Asia as well as making numerous recordings on the Harmonia Mundi label. He has also performed as a guest violist with the Tokyo, Jerusalem, Kuss, Marmen, Miro, Zemlinsky, Quiroga and Armida quartets. He has served on the jury of international quartet competitions in London, Salzburg, Prague and Katowice. Brown has also been an artistic director of the Da Camara chamber orchestra, the contemporary ensemble FUNKTION, and Musethica Spain.

Brown has been professor of viola and chamber music at Barcelona's ESMUC (Escuela Superior de Música de Cataluña, or Catalonia College of Music) since 2003, and since 2011 he has been assistant professor of viola at Madrid's Escuela Reina Sofía. Originally from Chicago, Brown’s principal viola teachers were Martha Strongin Katz, Karen Tuttle, Heidi Castleman, Thomas Riebl and Veronika Hagen and he was deeply influenced by Ferenc Rados and György Kurtág.

"I'm honored to join the Colburn School and contribute to its vibrant community," Brown said. "It's a privilege to further develop the rich legacy of chamber music education here, guiding students toward artistic growth and professional excellence. I look forward to collaborating with colleagues to cultivate a supportive environment where every student can thrive and fulfill their potential."

Brown was chosen following an international search to fill a faculty position had been vacant for the last year, according to Colburn.

"Jonathan William Brown's impressive background as a member of an acclaimed string quartet, an entrepreneurial artist, and gifted teacher and mentor makes him positioned to guide our students as they prepare for professional careers, Conservatory dean Lee Cioppa said. "With Jonathan as Professor of Chamber Music, we look forward to further nurturing our collaborative chamber music culture and having his unique voice contribute to the exceptional training provided at the Colburn School."

In the 20 years since the Conservatory was founded, the school has helped to cultivate a number of successful professional string quartets, including the critically acclaimed Calidore Quartet; the Calder Quartet, winners of the prestigious 2014 Avery Fisher Career Grant; and the Viano Quartet, currently in residence at the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center Bowers Program and First Prize winner at the 2019 Banff International String Quartet Competition.

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Violist Jonathan William Brown to Join Colburn School Faculty as Professor of Chamber Music

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