Miller, Jonathan

Cellist who studied at the University of California at Berkeley and had every intention of majoring in literature until he attended a master class given by the legendary Pablo Casals. He took up the cello and switched schools to Julliard where he studied with Bernard Greenhouse. In 1965 and 1966, he also attended the Tanglewood Music Center. He participated in the Sarasota Music Festival in 1970 and 1971.

In 1971, he joined the Boston Symphony Orchestra. Other groups with whom he has worked include the Boston Pops, the Cape Ann Symphony, the Essex Chamber Music Players, the Fine Arts Quartet, the Gramercy Trio, the Hartford Symphony, the Metropolitan Symphony Orchestra of Boston, the Newton Symphony Orchestra, the New York String Sextet, and the San Diego Symphony. He founded the Boston Artists Ensemble in 1980.

In 1990, he appeared on the Ronald Barron Album, Hindemith on Trombone. He recorded all of Beethoven’s cello sonatas with pianist Randall Hodgkinson and they appeared on CD in 2001 and 2003. Other recordings on which he is credited include America by the Boston Pops, Live in Boston by Chris Botti, and two digital albums by Thor Bremer, Altitudes & Catari Ariyasaccani and The Multitude.

In February 2000, he and pianist Lois Shapiro and violinist Sharan Leventhal gave the world premiere of Joan Huang’s Remembering the South River Land. He and Sharan teamed up with pianist Horia Mihail for the world premiere of Robert Livingston Aldridge’s Trio in April 2001.

On 30^th November 2004, the Gramercy Trio recorded a podcast of Robert Schumann’s Piano Trio No. 1 in minor, Op. 63 at WGBH in Boston, Massachusetts.

The Gramercy Trio delivered the world premiere of Fred Hersch’s Lyric Piece in April 2005. In March 2006, they gave the New England premiere of Nicholas Underhill’s Piano Trio.

On 3^rd December 2006, the Boston Artists Ensemble performed Leos Janacek’s String Quartet No. 2 (Intimate Letters), Gyorgy Kurtag’s Hommage a Mihaly Andras: 12 Microludesfor String Quartet and Maurice Ravel’s Duo for Violin and Cello at Trinity Church in Newton, Massachusetts.

They played Felix Mendelssohn’s Piano Trio in D minor, Op. 24, the Boston premiere of Sonia Possetti’s Suite Buenos Aires and Joaquin Turina’s Trio No. 1, Op. 35 on 28^thJanuary 2007.

On 25^th February 2007, they interpreted Antonin Dvorak’s Quintet for String Quartet and Bass in G, Op. 77, Dmitri Shostakovich’s Quartet No. 8 and the always enticing mystery piece to be guessed by an audience member for a chance to win free tickets!

They offered up a mostly-Bach program on 22^nd April 2007 that included the master’s Sonata for Cello and Harpsichord in G, Sonata for Viola and Harpsichord in G and Sonata for Violin and Harpsichord in B minor, as well as Mozart’s Divertimento for String Trio, K. 563.

On 14^th December 2007, The Gramercy Trio appeared on the barge at Fulton Ferry Landing in Brooklyn, New York, for a program of music by Fred Hersch that comprised Little Midnight Nocturne, the aforementioned Lyric Piece, Saloon Songs, Tango Bittersweet and 24 Variations on a Bach Chroale. They reprised the Lyric Piece on 31^stMay 2008 at Brooklyn-Queens Conservatory.

On 8^th June 2008, they were back on-board for Gabriel Faure’s Trio in D minor, Op. 120, Robert Schumann’s Piano Trio No. 2 in F major, Op. 80, and Nicholas Underhill’s Piano Trio No. 2.

Jonathan and violinists Jason Horowitz and Elita Kang and violist Edward Gazouleas were on-hand for the American premiere of Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach’s Sonatina for Glass Harmonica and Strings with soloist Thomas Bloch in April 2009.

In 24^th October 2010, he teamed up with pianist Dalit Hadass Warshaw for a pair of sonatas by Johannes Brahms and Claude Debussy at the Newton Free Library.

The Gramercy Trio gave a concert at the University of Wisconsin School of Music on 17^thNovember 2010.

On 4^th March 2011, the Boston Artists Ensemble appeared at the Peabody Essex Museum, where they performed Ludwig van Beethoven’s Serenade for String Trio in D, Op. 8, Luigi Boccherini’s Quintet in E minor, Op. 15, No. 5, Franz Schubert’s String Quartet in B flat, D. 112 and Judith Weir’s String Quartet. They reprised this program on 6^th March 2011 at Trinity Church.

On 3^rd April 2011, Jonathan joined forces with pianist Eliko Akahori at Shalin Liu PerformanceCenter in Rockport, where they performed works by Bach, Debussy, Janacek, Mendelssohn, Olivier Messaien, and Alfredo Piatti.

The BSO opened their season at Tanglewood in July 2011 with an ambitious Italian program that opened with the entire first act of Norma by Vincenzo Bellini and also featured the aforementioned overture from William Tell by Rossini, The Pines of Rome by OttorinoRespighi and the trio from Act III of I Lombardi by Giuseppe Verdi.

On 17^th September 2011, the Gramercy Trio appeared at Emmanuel Lutheran Church in Norwood, Massachusetts. Their program comprised: Fledermaus: A Concert Paraphrase by Leopold Godowksy and Johann Strauss, Jr.; Notturno from Soirees Musicales, Op. 6, No. 2 by Clara Schumann; Prelude and Fugue in E flat major, BWV 552 (St. Anne) by Bach and Ferruccio Busoni; Il Saltarello Romano, Op. 6, No. 4 by Fanny Henselt; and Trio in B flat, Op. 99 by Schubert.

The Boston Artists Ensemble returned to the Newton Free Library on 18^th September 2011 for a concert that consisted of Sonata for Violin and Piano in D minor, Op. 108 by Brahms, and Sonata in D major, BWV 1028 and Sonata in G minor, BWV 1029 by Bach.

On 23^rd September 2011, they were back at Peabody Essex Museum in Salem for the ever-enticing mystery piece sandwiched between Piano Trio No. 1 in B flat, Op. 99, D. 898 by Schubert and Piano Trio No. 1 in D minor, Op. 63 by Robert Schumann. They reprised this concert at Trinity Church on 25^th September 2011.

On 6^th & 11^th November 2011, they performed Quintet in D, Op. 29, No. 1 by Boccherini, String Sextet No. 1 in B flat, Op. 18 by Brahms, and Verklarte Nacht, Op. 4 by Arnold Schoenberg.

In the field of musical education, Jonathan has taught at the Boston Conservatory, the New England Conservatory, and Tanglewood.

Sources:

Miller, Jonathan

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