Jonathan Dunford

Jonathan Dunford (born 30 October 1959 in Trenton, New Jersey) is an American violist specialising in the baroque repertoire.

After studying the viol at the New England Conservatory of Music in Boston, Dunford was awarded a scholarship in 1980 for further training by Jordi Savall at the Schola Cantorum Basiliensis.

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

His son Thomas Dunford, born in Paris in 1988, plays the lute and theorbo and participates in recordings and in early music festivals.

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