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Jonathan Koh

Pre-College
  • Cello
Jonathan Koh headshot

Contact

Departments

Education

B.M. Northwestern University

M.M. San Francisco Conservatory of Music

Ensembles

Cello Faculty at University of California at Berkeley, Meadowmount School of Music (2015-2019)

Heifetz International Music Institute (2020)

Q&A

What is your hometown?

Chicago, Illinois

What are you passionate about outside of music?

Basketball, Travel, and Food

Who were your major teachers?

Hans Jorgen Jensen

What is a favorite quote that you repeatedly tell students?

"Be efficient and detailed with your practice. It's not what, it's how and why... look for the root of all good and bad"

What was the defining moment when you decided to pursue music as a career?

Being Hans Jensen's primary teaching assistant during my undergraduate years at Northwestern University.

If you weren't a musician or teacher, what do you think you would be doing now?

Medicine and/or Finance

If you could play only three composers for the rest of your life, who would they be?

J.S. Bach, R. Schumann, S. Rachmaninoff

From a music history perspective, what year and city are most important to you?

1690 Cremona, Italy. The maker of my cello, Andrea Guarneri (1626-1698), resided there and made my cello in 1690.

Please list your most important collaborations.

Pinchas Zukerman, Noah Bendix-Balgley, Lorin Maazel

Biography

A passionate and dedicated teacher who is gaining international recognition, Jonathan’s students have won countless major competitions and have performed all across the globe. His students have also been featured in several media outlets throughout the world and have soloed with numerous professional orchestras. Jonathan joined the San Francisco Conservatory of Music faculty as its youngest faculty hire in its school history. Soon after, Jonathan accepted an appointment to the cello faculty of the University of California at Berkeley. Jonathan’s teaching is continuously sought out by students, not only from across Northern California, but from Southern California, neighboring West Coast states, the Midwest, and Asia.



Jonathan’s students have been finalists and received prizes in both national and international competitions including: International Tchaikovsky Competition for Young Musicians, Irving Klein International String Competition, American String Teachers Association, Music Teachers National Association, Lennox International Competition, and Mondavi National Young Artists Competition. Additionally, his students have been mentioned in Yo-Yo Ma’s biography by Jim Whiting, was chosen as a Fulbright Scholar, performed on NPR’s ‘From the Top’ radio and television show, performed on NBC’s ‘The Martha Stewart Show’, and released a commercial recording of the complete J.S. Bach Six Suites for Unaccompanied Cello.



Jonathan’s extensive solo, orchestral, and chamber music experiences encompass several tours throughout the Far East, Europe, and across his native United States. At age 20, Jonathan took a position as substitute cellist of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. He also performed with the San Francisco Symphony Orchestra and National Symphony Orchestra. Jonathan has collaborated with Daniel Barenboim, Christoph Eschenbach, Pinchas Zukerman, Leon Fleischer, Carter Brey, Michael Tree, Karina Canellakis, Kyung-Sun Lee, and Noah Bendix-Balgley to name a few. At age 22, Jonathan recorded his first album under the NAXOS label as the principal cellist of the New Prospect Chamber Players.



Jonathan Koh received his education at Northwestern University, enrolling in its double-degree program to integrate pre-medicine, economics, and music. He also studied at Yale University Summer Program to further his studies in the medical field. In addition to his studies, Jonathan was the managing editor for the ‘Journal of Economics Management and Strategy’ at the Northwestern University Kellogg Graduate School of Management. Jonathan was the founder and CEO of MUSICCAS, an online application solutions company.



Jonathan performs on a Andrea Guarneri cello circa 1690.