Jonathan Butler

Texan cellist, Jonathan Butler has been recognized by the Boston Globe as ‘dynamic and committed.’ Since winning several prizes in the Amsterdam Cello Biennale Competition, he has been engaged by the Verbier Festival Chamber Orchestra in Europe and Asia, A Far Cry in the US, and Prussia Cove Open Chamber Music in the UK. Jonathan’s interest in contemporary music has resulted in close work with many composers from his own generation as well as notable figures such as Aaron Jay Kernis, Brett Dean, Harrison Birtwhistle, and Julian Anderson. Jonathan has been a recipient of the Gregor Piatigorsky scholarship at the New England Conservatory where he studied with Natasha Brofsky, and is currently completing a doctorate. Previous teachers include Michel Strauss and Richard Aaron, and Jonathan has received musical guidance from Steven Isserlis, Ralph Kirshbaum, and Gabor Takacs-Nagy. As a dedicated pedagogue, committed to passing on the knowledge learned from these figures to the next generation of musicians, Jonathan currently holds faculty positions at NEC Preparatory School, MIT Emerson Scholars program, and Chamber Music Now, where he also serves as Artistic Director. In his free time, Jonathan reads the dictionary, scours YouTube for ‘good’ videos, and enjoys natural-processed hand-pour coffee with layered notes of fruit and chocolate nougat.