Biography
Jonathan King is a fast-rising American conductor and GRAMMY-nominated collaborative pianist, working with some of the classical music industry’s top artists and organizations to bring meaningful stories and music to life.
Announced in summer of 2023 as Music Director for Opera Memphis, King has served as a civic musician and community connector, helping to lead the company’s nationally recognized “30 Days of Opera” program in and around Memphis. He recently made his company debut in a celebrated and sold out production of Bizet’s CARMEN, and in 2024 made his Memphis Symphony Orchestra podium debut on their Orchestra Unplugged series, featuring Mozart’s THE MAGIC FLUTE. King will conduct an upcoming production of LA CALISTO with Opera Memphis as they host the 2025 OPERA America conference.
King has worked as an assistant conductor with leading ensembles and conductors, including two summers as assistant conductor with the Oregon Bach Festival; assistant conductor to John Nelson on multiple performance and recording projects, including a critically-acclaimed MESSIAH with the English Concert on the Warner Classics label; and as Associate Conductor to Dr. Eugene Rogers with the GRAMMY Award-winning ensemble, The Washington Chorus. This summer, King will serve as Associate Conductor with Des Moines Metro Opera on their production of THE CUNNING LITTLE VIXEN, in addition to serving as music staff for the Apprentice Artist Program.
As a chorus master, King has prepared ensembles to work with renowned conductors including Leonard Slatkin, Marin Alsop, and Gianandrea Nosdea. He served for two seasons as adjunct faculty at The Peabody Institue of Johns Hopkins University, where he coached, lectured, and conducted with Peabody Opera Theatre. He has also served as a répétiteur with the National Symphony Orchestra, Nashville Opera, Opera Baltimore, Opera Montana, Opera Saratoga, and the Unlimited Series at Lyric Opera of Chicago. While a doctoral candidate (ABD), King served as assistant conductor, chorus master, and junior lecturer with Maryland Opera Studio at the University of Maryland.
King’s collaborative pianism has been acclaimed by critics across the globe as “magnificent” (Scherzo magazine), “poetic and heroic” (Classical-Modern Music Review), “deft and sensitive” (Chicago Tribune), and “fully alive” (Washington Post). He has worked with celebrated singers including Renée Fleming, J’Nai Bridges, Nicole Cabell, Michael Spyres, Karen Slack, and John Holiday.
“Pianist Jonathan King seconds with a pianism that is poetic and, yes, heroic in its own way as well.”
Grego Applegate Edwards, Classical-Modern Music Review
One of King’s signature longstanding collaborations is with celebrated American baritone Will Liverman. As a duo, King and Liverman have recorded with Deutsche Grammophon, Cedille Records, and Odradek Records, and have appeared in dozens of venues across North America and Europe, including Wigmore Hall, the Aspen Summer Music Festival, the Kennedy Center Opera House, and the Oxford International Song Festival. Their debut album, Whither Must I Wander (Odradek, 2020), was named one of ten “Best Classical Recordings of 2020” by the Chicago Tribune, and received a Critic’s Choice Award by Opera News. Their most recent album release, Show Me the Way (Cedille, 2024), was nominated for a 2025 GRAMMY Award for Best Solo Classical Vocal Album, and features collaborations with Renée Fleming, J’Nai Bridges, Nicole Cabell, Tahira Whittington and Lady Jess, and curated commissions by composers Sarah Kirkland Snyder, Libby Larsen, Jasmine Barnes, Rene Orth, and Kamala Sankaram. King’s own arrangement of the title track, “You Showed Me the Way,” was featured on the NPR Music series, Eight Tracks.
“Liverman’s magnificent accompanying pianist is a true companion with whom he should continue to wander the wide world.”
Ana García Urcola, Scherzo Magazine
King holds two Master of Music degrees in piano chamber music and choral conducting from the University of Michigan, where he was the recipient of the Edward P. Frolich and Brehm Fellowship awards. He received a Bachelor of Music degree from Wheaton College (IL).
