Jonathan Brown was the violist of the Cuarteto Casals, with whom he 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 including repertoire ranging from Bach through Haydn, Mozart and Beethoven to Bartók, Ligeti and Shostakovich. This performance is presented in collaboration with SFCM alumni, faculty, and students.

Program

Johann Sebastian Bach: Art of Fugue, No. 1

György Kurtág: Aus der Ferne III

J. S. Bach: Art of Fugue, No. 7

Shulamit Ran: Bach-Shards

J. S. Bach: Art of Fugue, No. 10 

Sofia Gubaidulina: Reflections on the Theme B-A-C-H

J. S. Bach: Art of Fugue, No. 14

Ludwig van Beethoven: String Quartet, Op. 95

Robert Schumann: Piano Quintet, Op. 44

Featured Artists

Jonathan Brown, viola

From 2002 until 2024, Jonathan Brown was the violist of the Cuarteto Casals, with whom he 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 including repertoire ranging from Bach through Haydn, Mozart and Beethoven to Bartók, Ligeti and Shostakovich. Highlights included Beethoven cycles in Berlin, Vienna, London, Tokyo, Stockholm, Madrid and Barcelona in addition to a residency at the Royal Palace in Madrid, where the quartet played on Stradivarius’ only dedicated quartet of instruments. As a guest violist, Jonathan has performed with the Tokyo, Jerusalem, Kuss, Marmen, Miro, Zemlinsky, Quiroga, and Armida quartets, and has been on the jury of international quartet competitions in London, Salzburg, Prague and Katowice. Jonathan has also been an
artistic director of the Da Camara chamber orchestra, the contemporary ensemble FUNKTION and Musethica Spain.

Jonathan is currently Professor of Chamber Music at the Colburn School Conservatory of Music in Los Angeles and previously taught viola and chamber music at ESMUC in Barcelona and Escuela Reina Sofía in Madrid. He has given masterclasses in Köln, Basel, London, Aix-en-Provence, Den Haag, Weikersheim, Fiesole, Linz, Lübeck, Essen, Rotterdam, Cleveland and Chicago among many other cities. 

Originally from Chicago, Jonathan’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.