Samling Artist pianist Jonathan Ware grew up in Texas and now lives in Berlin where he teaches at the Hochschule für Musik ‘Hanns Eisler’ and the Barenboim-Said Academy. He is highly sought-after as a song accompanist and chamber musician and appears regularly in the world’s leading recital venues and works with some of today’s most exciting Lieder singers. His most recent recording in a rapidly expanding discography is ‘This Be Her Verse’ with Golda Schultz. Jonathan is a regular leader at Samling Academy and he returns in March as a leader on the Samling Artist Programme with Sir Mark Elder and Brindley Sherratt.
My earliest musical memory is…
Onstage at church singing with my family, who were missionaries in the US. I think I was four.
The last piece of music I listened to was…
Sufjan Stevens’ album ‘Carrie and Lowell’ and clips from the famous Glyndebourne Theodora on youtube. These works seem similar to me in the sense that they help you feel what you need to feel.
The book I’m currently reading is…
The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger and Ethics in the Real World by Peter Singer.
The best thing about Berlin is…
NOT winter! For me the best thing is Berlin’s space. The plan of the city is spacious, the parks are large and abundant, and the ethos of the city somehow lends me mental space. I feel more room to be open and creative here than anywhere else I’ve lived.
My three essential travel items are…
1) Samsonite Neopulse carry-on suitcase 2) MacBook 3) hard-copy book.
I love playing song because…
I love specificity. The text very strongly suggests the emotional content of the music. This gets interesting in Schumann and some other composers, where the music and the text often play antithetical roles, and it is each individual listener who synthesises – for me that is magic!
My favourite venue to perform in is…
Probably Wigmore Hall and Pierre Boulez Saal in Berlin, both places where I feel at home and free.
My best Samling memory is…
I shouldn’t say this – but it was a game involving After Eight mints and very chocolatey foreheads of the entire group of artists and leaders. (Those present will obviously remain top secret!) More seriously, that “special” evening at the end of a week of musicmaking is symbolic of the community and trust that develop at a Samling Artist Week. These qualities facilitate extraordinary, deep growth for the participating artists.
