©Photo: Kaupo Kikkas

Jonathan Ware

Accompanist

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“His touch is suggestive, flexible, and follows the breath. An unseen bond of agreement stretches between him and the singer, a quiet bond of deep feeling and understanding.”
(Der Tagesspiegel)

Acclaimed for his exemplary and spirited playing, song accompanist and chamber musician Jonathan Ware is a regular guest in the world’s leading recital venues, with recent appearances at Wigmore Hall, Carnegie Hall, the John F. Kennedy Center, Elbphilharmonie, Philharmonie Luxembourg, L’Auditori, the Concertgebouw, Théâtre des Champs-Élysées and the Pierre Boulez Saal.

Appearing alongside some of today’s most exciting Lieder singers, last season saw Jonathan Ware with Elsa Dreisig at Bayerischer Rundfunk, Kölner Philharmonie and Wigmore Hall in a new 1920s programme; with Bejun Mehta at Elbphilharmonie Hamburg, Philharmonie Luxembourg and Mozartfest Augsburg; with Camilla Tilling at Spivey Hall in a Jenny Lind-inspired selection; and Brenda Rae at Wigmore Hall in Schubert and Strauss. Following recent appearances at Verbier Festival and Lied Festival Würzburg with Ema Nikolovska, the pair reunited at Wigmore Hall this season, where he also collaborated with tenors Simon Bode and Kieran Carrel. Also in the UK, Jonathan Ware collaborated with violinist Randall Goosby, violist Timothy Ridout and cellist Maciej Julakowski, appearing at St David’s Hall, Cardiff, St George’s Hall, Bristol, Leeds Town Hall and Wigmore Hall. Ware presented a Schumann and Franck programme with Ridout at the Lucerne festival last summer and will perform with the Vancouver Recital Society in 2023/24.

Further highlights in 2023/34 include a new collaboration with Samuel Mariño at the Sala Sinfonica Pablo Casals in Puerto Rico; a return to Carnegie Hall with Simon Bode, a UK tour with clarinettist Jonathan Leibowitz taking them to West Wight Arts, Bath Mozart festival and Falkirk.

Soprano Golda Schultz is a key collaborator with the duo’s specially devised programme of female composers ‘This Be Her Verse’ touring to Berlin, Cologne, Aix-en-Provence, Edinburgh, Philadelphia and Vancouver among others, and appeared last season at Wigmore Hall and Lucerne Festival. This season will see the pair at the Elbphilharmonie, Munich Festival, Schubertiade and Staatstheater Darmstadt as well as a North American tour visiting Princeton and the Schubert Club. Highly acclaimed for his “especially fine form” (BBC Music Magazine) and “theatrical sensibility” (New York Times) for the related CD release on Alpha Classics, ‘This Be Her Verse’ complements a quickly expanding discography with baritone Ludwig Mittelhammer for Berlin Classics, mezzo-soprano Sharon Carty for Genuin, oboist Olivier Stankiewicz for Delphian, and Elsa Dreisig for Warner Classics.

Awards include the Pianist’s Prize at both Das Lied and Wigmore Hall/Kohn Foundation International Song competitions, as well as First Prize with Ludwig Mittelhammer in the International Hugo Wolf Competition.

Born in Texas, Jonathan now resides in Berlin where he teaches at Hochschule Hanns Eisler and Barenboim-Said Academy. He regularly attends Academia Vocalis and Samling Institute as a mentor.

Mozart Violin Sonata in E minor K304, oboist Olivier Stankiewicz © Delphan Records, Foxbrush

Ravel La Pintade from Histoires Naturelles, mezzo Ema Nikolovska © Vancouver Recital Society

Schumann Adagio and Allegro op 70, violist Timothy Ridout © Wigmore Hall, YCAT

Schubert Suleika I D720, soprano Golda Schultz © BBC Radio 3, Wigmore Hall

“In what could well be the most exquisitely beautiful music to be heard in the Edinburgh Festival…Schultz and Ware were so much more than singer and accompanist, their subtle shading spinning long smooth lines suspended in shimmering light.” ★ ★ ★ ★ ★

The Scotsman, Aug 2022

“A thoughtful celebration of songs by women, performed with flair and imagination by stellar South African soprano Golda Schultz and outstanding pianist Jonathan Ware…An alternative version of Erlkönig by Emilie Mayer finds Ware on especially fine form during the twinkling passages accompanying the ‘voice’ of the Erlking himself…an outstanding album: expertly programmed and performed with terrific verve.”

BBC Music Magazine, July 2022

“Schultz and her excellent accompanist Jonathan Ware catch the mystery and terror of [Rebecca Clarke’s] setting of Blake’s ‘The Tyger’”

Telegraph, April 2022

“Jonathan Ware brings a theatrical sensibility to [Mayer’s Erlkönig], matching Schultz’s ease as an art song raconteur”

(New York Times, Apr 2022)

“Schultz and Ware rise to the challenge of every style, from Mayer’s urgent Der Erlkönig to Clarke’s wistful Down by the Salley Gardens.”

(Guardian, Apr 2022)

“Ware, an intuitive and sensitive partner, relished postludes and flourishes of pianistic flash without drawing too much of the spotlight.”

(Bachtrack, Jan 2022)

“Considered an even greater pianist than her husband Robert, Clara Schumann like him provided challenging keyboard writing in crafting Lieder. Ware rose to them, and throughout provided spirited precision and justly weighted tone.”

(Opera News, September 2021)

“Jonathan Ware is an ever-attentive co-conspirator on a beautifully voiced Steinway. Balance between the two players in Queen’s Hall, Edinburgh, is just as it should be, enabling each to come to the fore or provide accompaniment as required.”

(Gramophone, August 2021)

“The partnership between the two artists is exemplary, and one could not ask for more. The transcriptions for the oboe have produced many challenges that would be the undoing of us mere mortals, but the performances here are astounding.”

(Classical Music Daily, May 2021)

“One more notable feature of this disc is the rapport that exists between singer and pianist. There is a chemistry between them which allows each piece to develop with what appears to be a natural progression, there is nothing learned or superficial, rather they are responding sympathetically to each other’s strengths.”

(OperaWire, June 2020)

“One of the most purely seductive recitals to have come my way for a long time…And thanks to Ware’s superbly dappled and delicate way with the accompaniment, [Strauss’ Vier letzte Lieder] come across less as pale imitations of the orchestral originals than something like evocative, distantly remembered echoes.”

(Gramophone, February 2020)

“Strauss’ title track [Morgen] benefits from eloquent playing of the prelude and postlude by Ware.”

(Times, February 2020)

“his touch is suggestive, flexible, and follows the breath. An unseen bond of agreement stretches between him and the singer, a quiet bond of deep feeling and understanding.”

(Der Tagesspiegel, July 2019)

“discreet mastery by pianist Jonathan Ware made Brenda Rae’s opening group of five songs by Richard Strauss musical magic.”

(Opera Today, December 2018)

“A showcase for Ware’s vigorous clarity…Ware’s attack on the piano had an emphatic, purposeful drive to match his ice-pick precision.”

(New York Music Daily, February 2018)