Jonathan Fox
Jonathan Fox currently serves as Principal Percussionist of the Singapore Symphony Orchestra, where he has played since year 2000. Previously, he appeared with the New York Philharmonic, Mostly Mozart Orchestra, Seattle Symphony, Orchestra Ensemble Kanazawa (Japan), New Jersey Symphony Orchestra, New York Chamber Symphony, the Little Orchestra Society of Lincoln Center, and Miss Saigon on Broadway. He has performed under the baton of numerous celebrated conductors including Herbert Blomstedt, Myung-Whun Chung, Bernard Haitink, Raymond Leppard, Lorin Maazel, Kurt Masur, Seiji Ozawa, Gerard Schwarz, and Leonard Slatkin. His recordings of both traditional and contemporary solo and orchestral literature can be heard on the Albany, BIs Delos RCA Victor, and Varèse Sarabande labels.
Fox’s debut solo CD release containing the world premiere recording of Zhou Long’s percussion concerto “Da Qu” was recently released on the BIS label (CD-1322). International Record Review (UK) stated that “Jonathan Fox displays breathtaking virtuosity as he scoots around the vast array of percussion instruments.” Composer Zhou Long lauded Jonathan’s “artistry in giving the concerto its finest interpretation.” Fellow composer Chen Yi cited Fox’s rendition of the concerto as “energetic, precise, fresh, and powerful.” Art Lange of Fanfare summarizes the disc as “exotic and vibrant” as well as “audience-wowing”.
Jonathan has also appeared as a solo percussionist numerous other times including appearances as featured performer at Milton Babbitt’s 80th birthday celebration in the presence of the renowned composer (Carlisle, PA), with Ensemble Bartók (Chile) at Carnegie Hall, the Metropolitan Wind Symphony (Boston MA), and the Singapore Symphony Orchestra, with whom he presented the Asian premiere of Thea Musgrave’s marimba concerto “Journey Through a Japanese Landscape.” According to The Inkpot (Singapore), Fox performed the Musgrave work “with focused confidence and a quiet, unassuming intensity.” The Seattle Times mentioned that, as solo timpanist of the Seattle Symphony, “Jonathan Fox got a well-deserved nod for his excellence”, and the Seattle Post-Intelligencer called his playing “superb.”
In addition to his responsibilities at the Yong Siew Toh Conservatory of Music in Singapore, Jonathan Fox is an active concert and marching recitalist and clinician across North America and Asia. In addition to coordinating high profile percussion programs in American high schools he has also been a part-time instructor for the Cadets Drum and Bugle Corps (Allentown PA). Jonathan is a Zildjian performing artist as well as an education team member and product endorser for drum stick and mallet manufacturer, Vic Firth, Inc.
Fox received his Master of Music degree from The Juilliard School (New York, NY) in 1994, where he studied with Roland Kohloff, former Principal Timpanist of the New York Philharmonic. In 1992, Fox graduated from Boston University (Boston MA), summa cum laude, where he worked privately with former Boston Symphony Orchestra percussionist Thomas Gauger. Previously, Jonathan studied for six years with celebrated Boston area teacher and arranger, Neil Larrivee.