Biography
Pianist Jonathan Mak is from Toronto, Canada, and he began studying piano at the age of three with Aster Lai. A year later, at age four, Jonathan made his solo debut with the Canadian Sinfonietta orchestra. Since then, he has been a guest soloist with numerous orchestras, most notably the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra in Bulgaria, the Manchester Camerata, and the Krakow Philharmonic Orchestra.
Jonathan’s international accomplishments include winning first prize at the 2009 Manchester International Concerto Competition for Young Pianists. In 2012, Jonathan was also invited by the Orchestra Filarmonica di Udine to perform at the opening concert in Udine, Italy. Jonathan became the recipient of the 2013 Jean Lumb Foundation Kotcheff Family Arts Award. In 2014, Jonathan performed with the Krakow Philharmonic Orchestra in Poland. In recent years, Jonathan has given recitals as a soloist and with orchestras in Italy, Bulgaria, Manchester, China, Vienna, and Poland. Jonathan is one of the recipients of the 2021 Sylva Gelber Music Foundation Award. An avid chamber musician, Jonathan has been invited to perform at various festivals including the Festival of the Sound in Parry Sound, Ottawa Chamberfest, and the Edinburgh International Festival. Jonathan has attended various summer festivals, including the Aspen Summer Music Festival, Kneisel Hall Music Festival, and the Sarasota Music Festival. In the summer of 2017, Jonathan was part of the National Youth Orchestra of Canada as an Award of Excellence winner. Returning to the orchestra in 2018, Jonathan joined NYOC on their European tour as a recipient of the Canada Council for the Arts-Michael Measures Prize. Jonathan recently graduated with his Masters, and is currently pursuing his Masters of Musical Arts degree at the Yale School of Music with Boris Slutsky. He received his Bachelor’s degree at the Cleveland Institute of Music with Dr. Daniel Shapiro. In addition to the piano, Jonathan also received a viola minor degree at the Cleveland Institute of Music with Ms. Lisa Boyko, and a German minor from Case Western. Jonathan has participated in masterclasses with Boris Berman, Lang Lang, André Laplante, Robert Levin, Jon Kimura Parker, Antonio Pompa-Baldi, Jahja Ling, Asaf Zohar, the Montrose Trio, and the Emerson String Quartet. |