Jonathan Stuchbery, guitar
Jonathan is an artist engaged in inspiring and educating audiences as diverse as his musical interests. A specialist in period instruments of the lute and guitar family, and with a background in classical and electric guitar, his performances offer "exciting and technically brilliant" (Marvin Dickau) displays of the wealth of the musical language.
Versatile as a soloist, chamber musician and continuo player, Jonathan frequently distinguishes himself across Canada, the United States, and Europe. He is active in the rich early music scene throughout Canada, and can be seen performing music on period instruments, solo and with ensembles such as Aureas Voces (Halifax), Pacific Baroque Orchestra (Vancouver), Les Méandres (Montréal), and Theatre of Early Music, and in festivals and series including Music and Beyond, Festival Montréal Baroque, Musique Royale, and Hammer Baroque. He recently completed a solo tour of British Columbia for Living Room Live.
He is a founding member of the Cygnus trio (flute, violin, guitar), which places an emphasis on performing not only in traditional venues, but in reaching out to the community through events such as visits to women's shelters, house concerts, and children's programs. The trio toured their program 'Lost Islands' through Ontario in 2018, featuring new music and poetry by Canadian artists, in collaboration with actors Paul Hopkins, and Blair Williams, and composer Arie Verheul van de Ven. The trio's debut album 'Amalgam' was released in December 2018, and features new works and arrangements written specifically for them.
He has extensive experience in contemporary classical music, having premiered and performed large-scale works on classical, and electric guitar in series such as Live@CIRMMT and Montréal/Nouvel Musique. He is currently working on a program of new music for the theorbo, which began to take shape in September 2020 with the premiere of Arie Verheul van de Ven's piece "Mosquito Touch", in collaboration with visual artist Alex McLeod who created a video for its online release.
His classical guitar studies began in Penticton, British Columbia with Selwyn Redivo and he received a bachelor of music with a double major in guitar and lute performance at McGill’s Schulich School of Music, and was recognized for outstanding achievement in Lute. He studied with Jérôme Ducharme and Sylvain Bergeron. In 2020 Jonathan received a Master's in the Performance of Early Music at the Escola Superior de Musica de Catalunya in Barcelona, studying in the studio of Xavier Diaz-Latorre.
Jonathan plays a guitar built by John Park, theorbo by Alfonso Marin, and baroque guitar by Wilma van Berkel.
Images by Snostudios photography