Bio

Alabama native Jonathan Magness was appointed the Minnesota Orchestra’s associate principal second violin in September 2008. He has since been featured as soloist under Marin Alsop, in addition to solo performances for Inside the Classics andYoung People’s Concerts. Magness began studies at the University of Minnesota with Sally O’Reilly as a teenager. He earned a bachelor’s degree from the Juilliard School and a Masters from the University of Graz in Austria. In 2004 he received the grand prize in the International Sparkasse Musikstipendium competition in Austria and in 2005 was awarded multiple prizes at the Luis Sigall Violin Competition in Chile; that same year he was a prizewinner in the Manchester International Competition in the United Kingdom, consequently soloing with the BBC Symphony. He has also been soloist with various orchestras including the Israel Chamber Orchestra, Klagenfurt Musikverein, and Regional Orchestra of Chile. He currently teaches violin at the University of Minnesota’s Bravo Institute.