Jonathan Holden

Assistant Professor of Clarinet

Jonathan is Principal Clarinetist of the West Michigan Symphony, a frequent guest of the Grand Rapids, Sarasota, and Mississippi symphony orchestras, and a former tenured member of the Kalamazoo and Traverse symphony orchestras. He has performed with numerous other ensembles including the Lansing Symphony Orchestra, the Fort Wayne Philharmonic, and the Mobile Symphony.

Beyond his love for the orchestra, Jonathan is an ardent chamber musician and soloist. He made his concerto debut at the age of seventeen and has since given concerto performances at numerous venues in Britain and the United States. His most recent presentation of the Mozart Clarinet Concerto, for which he received standing ovations, was hailed as an “exquisite, eloquent performance.” Another reviewer commented “his tone is light and British or European…it’s like having dessert”.

Jonathan has won first prize in several competitions including the Clarinet & Saxophone Society of Great Britain Competition and the Michigan State University Honors Competition, and was a semi-finalist in the prestigious Carl Nielsen Third International Clarinet Competition. He has performed by invitation of organizations such as the British Clarinet Congress, the Paris Conservatoire, the College Music Society, The University of Rio de Janeiro, Festival South, Chamber Music Wilmington, and The American Music Festival. Jonathan is a member of Category 5 – the resident wind quintet at the University of Southern Mississippi, who have in recent years embarked on tours of Brazil and the southwestern United States, giving performances and master classes for numerous arts organizations and universities. He is co-founder of The Argot Trio – a new clarinet-violin-piano collaboration.

Jonathan is also a proponent of new and modern music. He has prepared chamber music performances for, and under the guidance of, composers such as Bright Sheng, Peter Sculthorp, James Wintle, Alan Hovhaness, and Ricardo Tachuchian; and has premiered solo works by Anders Koppel and Gregory Hutter. He is co-commissioning new works by Bill Douglas and Daniel Baldwin.

Jonathan is now Assistant Professor of Clarinet at the University of Southern Mississippi and a former faculty member of Hope College, Michigan. He received his Doctor of Musical Arts degree from Michigan State University where he studied with eminent soloist and chamber musician Dr. Elsa Ludewig-Verdehr. He received his BM and MM performance degrees from the Guildhall School of Music & Drama – one of Europe’s premiere conservatories – where he studied with soloist Joy Farrall and celebrated recording artist Dame Thea King.