Background
MM, Manhattan School of Music
Jonathan Gmeinder is a Chicago-based pianist from Hartland, WI. Since moving to Chicago, he has worked extensively as a coach, collaborator, and piano teacher. He currently teaches and coaches opera students at Roosevelt and Northwestern Universities in Chicago. He also coaches and accompanies the young artists at the Ryan Opera center at the Lyric Opera of Chicago, as well as the Baumgartner studio artists at Florentine Opera in Milwaukee.
Jonathan is a graduate of the Houston Grand Opera young artist program, where he worked as a coach on La bohème, Don Giovanni, Les pêcheurs de perles, Il barbiere di Siviglia, Norma, La traviata, and the world premiere of Ricky Ian Gordon’s The House Without a Christmas Tree, on which his playing can be heard in the original cast recording. Prior to his time in Houston, Jonathan worked as a piano fellow at the Juilliard School in their opera department, as well as a coach at the Manhattan School of Music, where he earned his Master of Music degree in vocal accompanying under the tutelage of Warren Jones. He also enjoyed two summers at the Aspen opera center, where in 2017 he had the pleasure of coaching the workshop production of pop star Rufus Wainwright’s Hadrian. Jonathan has played under conductors including Enrique Mazzola, EunSun Kim, Jim Lowe, and David E. Becker. He holds a bachelor's degree in music performance from Lawrence University in Wisconsin, where he studied piano with Catherine Kautsky.