Jonathan Cole (born 21 December 1970 in

Welwyn Garden City Welwyn Garden City ( ) is a town in Hertfordshire, England, north of London. It was the second garden city in England (founded 1920) and one of the first new towns (designated 1948). It is unique in being both a garden city and a new town an ...

) is a British composer and Head of Composition at the

Royal College of Music The Royal College of Music is a music school, conservatoire established by royal charter in 1882, located in South Kensington, London, UK. It offers training from the Undergraduate education, undergraduate to the Doctorate, doctoral level in a ...

Biography

Jonathan Cole attended Christ's Hospital school before studying composition at King's College London, the

Guildhall School of Music and Drama The Guildhall School of Music and Drama is a conservatoire and drama school located in the City of London, United Kingdom. Established in 1880, the school offers undergraduate and postgraduate training in all aspects of classical music and jaz ...

and

Royal Holloway Royal Holloway, University of London (RHUL), formally incorporated as Royal Holloway and Bedford New College, is a public university, public research university and a constituent college of the federal University of London. It has six schools, ...

University of London The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in post-nominals) is a federal public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The university was established by royal charter in 1836 as a degre ...

where he graduated with a PhD in 2001. His teachers included

Simon Bainbridge Simon Bainbridge (30 August 1952 – 2 April 2021) was a British composer. He was also a professor and head of composition at the Royal Academy of Music, London, and visiting professor at the University of Louisville, Kentucky, in the United S ...

, Simon Holt and

Malcolm Williamson Malcolm Benjamin Graham Christopher Williamson, (21 November 19312 March 2003) was an Australian composer. He was the Master of the Queen's Music from 1975 until his death. Biography Williamson was born in Sydney in 1931; his father was an ...

. His work first achieved public notice with Ouroboros I (1999). He has enjoyed a fruitful relationship with the

London Sinfonietta The London Sinfonietta is an English contemporary chamber orchestra founded in 1968 and based in London. The ensemble has headquarters at Kings Place and is Resident Orchestra at the Southbank Centre. Since its inaugural concert in 1968—gi ...

who have premiered three pieces and has received commissions from the BBC, Nash Ensemble,

RAI Orchestra The RAI National Symphony Orchestra ( it, italic=no, Orchestra Sinfonica Nazionale della RAI) is an Italian symphony radio orchestra, owned by the public radio and television company RAI. Its primary concert venue is the Auditorium RAI in the Pia ...

, Turin and the

London Symphony Orchestra The London Symphony Orchestra (LSO) is a British symphony orchestra based in London. Founded in 1904, the LSO is the oldest of London's orchestras, symphony orchestras. The LSO was created by a group of players who left Henry Wood's Queen's ...

amongst others. His music has been widely performed in festivals across the world and has been supported by such figures as Oliver Knussen, George Benjamin and Mark Anthony Turnage. Influenced as much by the sounds of London and free-improvisation as by such figures as Stockhausen, Cage and Nono, his music explores perception and memory in rich and imaginative ways. From 2009–2013 he was composer-in-association with the London Contemporary Orchestra and in 2012 he was instrumental in setting up the re:sound collective. Jonathan Cole is well known as a teacher of composition having taught at the Royal College of Music since 2005 where he was appointed Head of Composition in 2022. Prior to this, he taught at King's College, London and the Purcell School.

Key Dates

*1999 – awarded the Royal Philharmonic Composition Prize *2001 – signed exclusive publishing contract with G.Ricordi & co., London *2006 – appointed professor of composition at the Royal College of Music *2008 – appointed composer-in-association with the London Contemporary Orchestra *2018 – awarded fellowship of the Royal College of Music (FRCM) *2022 - appointed Head of Composition at the Royal College of Music

Selected works

* Caught (1998) * Ouroboros II (2000) * Assassin Hair (2002) * Penumbra (2004) * Testament (2005) * Scrawling Out (2006) * Simulacrum (2008) * Tss-K-Haa (2008) * Burburbabbar Za (2009) * Ash Relics (2010) * Nadanu (2012) * Menhir (2013) * Anuras (2014) * 50 Florentine Breaths (2017) * 13 Verses (2017) * A Passing Moment (2019) * Templum (2019) * Hidden Corners (2020) * Lucier Clocks (2022)

Selected Recordings

* Caught – NMC D076 * Testament – SINF CD1 2007 * tss-k-haa – NMC D150 * 50 Florentine Breaths – EMA Vinci contemporanea 700121 1CD

References

Young Noises at the concert hall (Independent on Sunday – 9 April 2000)
Jonathan Cole's personal website

Jonathan Cole’s soundcloud page

Jonathan Cole page at Ricordi

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cole, Jonathan English composers Living people 1970 births Alumni of King's College London Alumni of the Guildhall School of Music and Drama Alumni of Royal Holloway, University of London People from Welwyn Garden City Musicians from Hertfordshire People educated at Christ's Hospital Academics of the Royal College of Music Fellows of the Royal College of Music