Faculty Bios

Jonathan Coombs

Jonathan Coombs began his musical studies at the age of three and has since been the recipient of many national and international awards. Making his orchestral debut at the age of eleven, Jonathan has performed under the direction of leading Maestro’s including Migel Harth Bedoya, Joseph Silverstein, Keith Lockhart, Robert Henderson, Kory Katseanes, and Bundit Ungrangsee. Shortly after his fifteenth birthday, Jonathan was named recipient of the Guimar Novaes award, given from the Brazilian Ambassador to a citizen of United States for distinguished accomplishments in the field of fine arts by a young American. Jonathan has competed both at national and international levels and has garnered many top honors including silver medal for the solo competition and gold medal for the ensemble competition at the 2002 Inaugural New York Piano Competition under the auspices of the Stecher and Horowitz Foundation. Jonathan’s participation in this competition has been viewed nationally in the documentary SPEAKING WITH MUSIC, a behind-the-scenes look at the competition, shown on PBS.
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Jonathan has more than 10 years of teaching experience including guest appearances at music festivals across the United States. He has studied with many of the world’s foremost musicians including Claude Frank, Leon Fleisher, Daniel Pollack, Andre Michel Schub, Charles Rosen, Ralph Votapek, Jerome Lowenthal, Abbey Simon, and Robert McDonald. In 2000, Jonathan recorded live at Boston Symphony Hall on the nationally syndicated radio program "From the Top." On January 15, 2003, Jonathan Coombs was featured on "The McGraw-Hill Companies' Young Artists' Showcase." Hosted by Robert Sherman on WQXR, the classical music station of the New York Times, Jonathan was heard performing live. In June of 2006, Jonathan soloed with the Music Academy of the West Orchestra under the direction of Maestro Migel Harth Bedoya. Jonathan has given solo, chamber, and orchestral concert performances in numerous prestigious arts venues throughout the United States including Alice Tully Hall, Abravanel Hall, Boston Symphony Hall, the Peter Jay Sharp Theater, Temple Emanu-El, the Tabernacle, Hann Hall, Maurice Gusman Hall, and Saint Bartholomew’s.

Jonathan is an alumnus of the Music Academy of the West International Music Festival where he studied with Jerome Lowenthal. Jonathan received both his Bachelor of Music and Master of Music degrees from The Juilliard School as a student of Robert McDonald.