Jonathan Dunford (born 30 October 1959 in Trenton,

New Jersey New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delaware ...

) is an American

viol The viol (), viola da gamba (), or informally gamba, is any one of a family of bowed, fretted, and stringed instruments with hollow wooden bodies and pegboxes where the tension on the strings can be increased or decreased to adjust the pitc ...

ist specialising in the

baroque The Baroque (, ; ) is a style of architecture, music, dance, painting, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished in Europe from the early 17th century until the 1750s. In the territories of the Spanish and Portuguese empires including t ...

repertoire.

Biography

After studying the

at the

New England Conservatory of Music The New England Conservatory of Music (NEC) is a private music school in Boston, Massachusetts. It is the oldest independent music conservatory in the United States and among the most prestigious in the world. The conservatory is located on H ...

in Boston, Dunford was awarded a scholarship in 1980 for further training by

Jordi Savall Jordi Savall i Bernadet (; born 1 August 1941) is a Spanish conductor, composer and viol player. He has been one of the major figures in the field of Western early music since the 1970s, largely responsible for popularizing the viol family of ...

at the

Schola Cantorum Basiliensis The Schola Cantorum Basiliensis (SCB) is a music academy and research institution located in Basel, Switzerland, that focuses on early music and historically informed performance. Faculty at the school have organized performing ensembles that have ...

. He obtained his mastery of viola da gamba in 1987 in Boston then his State Diploma of Ancient Music in 1989 in France. Jonathan Dunford has been living in Paris since 1985, is married to the gambist Sylvia Abramowicz and taught at the

Conservatoire de Strasbourg The Conservatoire de Strasbourg is a music conservatory located in Strasbourg, France. The school was created using funds given to the city of Strasbourg by arts patron Louis Apffel in 1839. The conservatoire's first day of classes began on 3 Janua ...

between 1990 and 1997 and also at the Conservatoire de Metz. He has been teaching at the Conservatory of Saint-Cloud since 2013. He has conducted extensive research at the Bibliothèque nationale de France on music for viola da gamba. In 2004, he was appointed workshop leader for viola da gamba for the data base "Philidor" at the

Centre de musique baroque de Versailles The Centre de Musique Baroque de Versailles (CMBV - ''Centre of Baroque Music Versailles'') is a centre for the study and performance of French Baroque music, based at the Menus-Plaisirs du Roi. It was founded by Philippe Beaussant and Vincent Ber ...

. He has published numerous articles on the viola da gamba (''Goldberg'', ''l'Œil'', record booklets) and regularly participates in radio programs (

France Musique France Musique is a French national public radio channel owned and operated by Radio France. It is devoted to the broadcasting of music, both live and recorded, with particular emphasis on classical music and jazz. History The channel was launch ...

, Radio Bleu, etc.) and television programs (Mezzo). In 2016 he founded his own digital label "Astres Disques". Jonathan Dunford plays on a bass viola da gamba built in 1741 by Parisian

luthier A luthier ( ; AmE also ) is a craftsperson who builds or repairs string instruments that have a neck and a sound box. The word "luthier" is originally French and comes from the French word for lute. The term was originally used for makers o ...

Solomon. His son

Thomas Dunford Thomas Dunford (born 1988) is a French lutenist. He is the son of American Viol, viola da gambist Jonathan Dunford and viola da gambist Sylvia Abramowicz. He completed his musical studies in 2006 at the Conservatoire de Paris, and earned his bache ...

, born in Paris in 1988, plays the lute and

theorbo The theorbo is a plucked string instrument of the lute family, with an extended neck and a second pegbox. Like a lute, a theorbo has a curved-back sound box (a hollow box) with a wooden top, typically with a sound hole, and a neck extending ...

and participates in recordings and in early music festivals.

Discography (selection)

* 1992: ''Pièces de Viole en manuscrit'' (excerpt from Manuscrit 1111 of the Bibliothèque Nationale de Paris) with pieces by Dietrich Stöeffken,

Tobias Hume Tobias Hume (possibly 1579 – 16 April 1645) was a Scottish composer, viol player and soldier. Little is known of his life. Some have suggested that he was born in 1579 because he was admitted to the London Charterhouse in 1629, a prerequisit ...

, Daniel Farrant, Thomas Ford, Nicolas Hotman, August Verdufen, Jean Lacquemant (Dubuisson), John Jenkins and several anonymous Germans * 1996: ''Le Sieur Dubuisson'', music by Jean Lacquemant better known under the name Sieur Dubuisson * 1998: ''Suites pour une et trois lyra-violes'' by

William Lawes William Lawes (April 160224 September 1645) was an English composer and musician. Life and career Lawes was born in Salisbury, Wiltshire and was baptised on 1 May 1602. He was the son of Thomas Lawes, a vicar choral at Salisbury Cathedral, ...

* ''Pièces de Viole en Tablature'' by De Machy or Demachy * ''Suites pour viole seule'' by Ditrich Stöeffken * ''Suites pour viole seule / Concerts à deux violes esgales'' by Jean de Sainte-Colombe * 1997: ''Tombeau pour Mr. de Sainte-Colombe le père Sainte-Colombe le fils'' Adès (Universal) * 2000 & 2002: ''Pièces de viole inédites'' - Marin Marais Accord-Universal * 2007: ''Le Tombeau de Marin Marais'' AS Productions, Paris (distribution Abeille Musique) * 2011: ''Les surprises de l'amour de Rameau, transcriptions de M. Hesse'' Alpha Productions, Paris distribution Harmonia Mundi * 2011: ''Love is the Cause of My Mourning, Scottish tunes for Baroque Guitar and Viola da Gamba'' Alpha Productions, Paris distribution Harmonia Mundi * 2011: ''Bertrand de Bacilly, L'Art D'Orner Le Beau Chant'' Saphir Productions, Paris * 2014: ''Alfonso Ferrabosco, Ayres & Lessons for the Lyra Viol'' ARION * 2015: ''Marin Marais, Suites à Deux Violes (1686)'' Musica Ficta * 2015 :
Music for the Viol Lyra-Way
' - Musique inédite de Jenkins et Simpson (uniquement téléchargement) - ''Astres Disques'' * 2016 :
Le Sieur de Sainte-Colombe
' - Suites for Solo Viola da Gamba (uniquement téléchargement) - ''Astres Disques'' * 2016 :
Telemann
- Fantasies for Solo Viola da Gamba'' - (uniquement téléchargement) - ''Astres Disques'' * 2016 -
Jean-Baptiste Cappus: Pièces de Viole - 1730
- (uniquement téléchargement) - Astres Disques'' *2016
Meditation sur la vie et la mort
- Astres Disques *201
Gervise Gerrarde
Paven - Single - Astres Disques *2016
Le Sieur de Sainte-Colombe: Le Retour - Single
- Astres Disques *2017
La Princesse Palatine: Portrait d'encre et de notes
- Astres Disques *2018
The Best Of: Marin Marais - Charles Hurel
- Astres Disques *2019
Paris, 1666
- Astres Disques *2020
Demachy
- Pièces De Viole - 1685 - Astres Disques *2020
ohn Merro's Book: Music for Lyra Viol from 17th Century England
- Astres Disques *2020
Mr. Marsh's Lyra-Viol Book
- Astres Disques *2020
Thomas Morley: Fantasies to Two Voices
- Astres Disques *202
Louis de Caix d'Hervelois: Sonata No. 3 in B Minor
- Astres Disques *2021
Marin Marais: Les folies originelles - Single
- Astres Disques *2021
Sainte-Colombe le fils
- Astres Disques

Bibliography

* Jonathan Dunford and Pierre-Gilles Girault. ''Un portrait du musicien Marin Marais par Jean Dieu de Saint-Jean au musée du château de Blois'' ("a portrait of the musician Marin Marais by Jean Dieu de Saint-Jean in the musée du château de Blois"). ''Les cahiers du château et des musées de Blois'',''Cahiers du château et des musées de Blois''
/ref> no.37, Dec 2006 – June 2007, (p. 15–21).

on Classicalacarte.net

References

External links

Jonathan Dunford's website

Jonathan Dunford, invité de la Matinale
on France Musique (30 July 2016)
Discographie de l’Ensemble A 2 Violes Esgales

Jonathan Dunford plays Demachy
on YouTube {{DEFAULTSORT:Dunford, Jonathan 1959 births Living people Musicians from Trenton, New Jersey American violists American music educators Educators from New Jersey