Biography
Winner of the 2023 inaugural Bader & Overton Canadian Piano Competition, pianist Jonathan Mak made his orchestra debut at the age of 4. Since then, he has been a guest soloist with numerous orchestras, most notably the Orchestre symphonique de Montréal, Orpheus Chamber Orchestra in Bulgaria, Manchester Camerata, Orchestra Filarmonica di Udine, and Krakow Philharmonic Orchestra.
In addition to his win at the Bader competition, Jonathan’s recent accomplishments include the Grand Prize at the Plowman Chamber Music Competition with Trio Menil, and the third prize in the OSM competition. Jonathan received special prizes at the Ljubljana Festival International Piano Competition in Slovenia, and the Maj Lind International Piano Competition in Finland. He has also participated in the Van Cliburn and Dublin International Piano Competitions.​​
Named as one of CBC’s 30 hot Canadian classical musicians under 30, Jonathan is a recipient of the Canada Council for the Arts-Michael Measures award. He is also the recipient of the 2021 and 2023 Sylva Gelber Music Foundation Award, along with the 2023 Walter Prsytawski Prize.
Jonathan has been invited to perform at various festivals including the Bravo! Vail Festival in Colorado, the Festival of the Sound in Ontario, Ottawa Chamberfest, and the Edinburgh International Festival. He has attended various summer festivals, including the Aspen Summer Music Festival, Kneisel Hall Music Festival, and the Sarasota Music Festival.
An advocate for community outreach, Jonathan is a member of DACAMERA’s Young Artist Program, a fellowship program for emerging professional instrumentalists, vocalists, and composers that serves the Houston community.
Jonathan is currently pursuing a Doctor of Musical Arts at Rice University with Jon Kimura Parker. He began his studies with Aster Lai in Toronto, and holds a Master’s of Music and a Master’s of Musical Arts degree from the Yale School of Music, studying with Boris Slutsky. He received his Bachelor’s degree at the Cleveland Institute of Music with Dr. Daniel Shapiro, as well as minors in viola and German. For more information visit www.jonathanmakpiano.com.