About Jonathan David
Jonathan David’s music has been described as “fierce,” “ecstatic,” “Romantic,” and “sophisticated.” While he writes for all media his focus is on music for the human voice. His choral catalog balances the sacred and the secular, accompanied and a cappella, with settings of texts ranging from the melancholy to the mischievous.
Jonathan was born in 1965 in New Haven, Connecticut, and raised in New York City. From age 13 he fronted numerous punk, pop, and r & b bands as a singer/songwriter and guitarist, creating well over 150 songs, and performing in clubs such as CBGB’s and R.T. Firefly’s. He fell under the corrupting influence of Bartok and Mozart during his post-graduate year in Freiburg, Germany, and (for the most part) hasn’t looked back since.
Jonathan’s first solo CD, The Persistence of Song, featuring the complete solo vocal works with piano, was released on Centaur Music in January 2020. Maury Yeston, Tony Award-Winning composer-lyricist, described it as “masterful.” Jonathan’s first solo choral disc is slated to be recorded next season by The Emerald Ensemble of Seattle, WA.
Jonathan has been commissioned by the New York Treble Singers, Duke University, Atlanta Young Singers, Marble Collegiate Church, Carroll University, the Manhattan Wind Ensemble, soprano Amy Bartram, and saxophonist David Wozniak, among others. His choral work has been performed throughout the United States and Europe at such venues as Duke Chapel, the European Parliament in Brussels, the Palace of Westminster, the Cathedral of Notre Dame-Paris, a deconsecrated synagogue in Slovakia, and an art gallery in Northern Macedonia. Jonathan has also composed several works of music-theatre, including Bronx Express, which ran to critical acclaim at the 2005 New York International Fringe Festival.
Jonathan has served as Composer-in-Residence for The Greenwich Village Singers and was a founding member of the pioneering new music chorus, C4. His Stabat Mater is featured on C4’s debut CD.
He serves on the judging panel for the ASCAP/Deems Taylor Awards for best classical music writing. From 2005-2011 he was the Classical Editor for the internet music service, Napster. Jonathan’s music is published by Oxford University Press, See-A-Dot Music, and Paraclete Press, and is also available through his management, Black Tea Music.
Jonathan currently resides in Chapel Hill, NC, where is he is active as a professional choral tenor.