ABOUT JONATHAN

Jonathan Palmer Lakeland is a British-American conductor, pianist, and vocal coach whose work spans opera, recital, and recording, with collaborations at many of the world’s leading classical music institutions and artists.

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Recent and upcoming highlights include a gala performance at Carnegie Hall with mezzo-soprano Aigul Akhmetshina as part of the celebrated Stage of Legends series, and Composition V (Rebellious Birds) at Tate Modern with Wu Tsang and Moved by the Motion, presented alongside its landmark Picasso exhibition.

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As a conductor, he has led productions with major opera companies across Europe and North America. In May 2024, he conducted a new adaptation of Carmen at the Schauspielhaus Zürich, featuring additional music by GRAMMY Award-winning composer Andrew Yee. Conceived by Wu Tsang and Moved by the Motion, the production starred Katia Ledoux and Ryan Capozzo. In 2022, he made his Vienna opera debut with the Austrian premiere of Tobias Picker’s Thérèse Raquin at Theater an der Wien, where he previously served as Studienleiter and répétiteur. He is also a recipient of the prestigious Billy Joel Fellowship at the Tanglewood Music Festival, where he assisted on Leonard Bernstein’s A Quiet Place during the Bernstein centenary.

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As a vocal coach, Jonathan has prepared singers for performances, broadcasts, and recordings with the Royal Opera House, Metropolitan Opera, Wiener Staatsoper, Dutch National Opera, Glyndebourne, Opéra National de Paris, and Bayerische Staatsoper. He is Associate Director and Vocal Coach of the Georg Solti Accademia in Italy, teaching alongside Jonathan Papp, Richard Bonynge, Angela Gheorghiu, Barbara Frittoli, and Carlo Rizzi.

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An accomplished pianist, he has appeared in recital with artists including Aigul Akhmetshina, Dame Felicity Lott, Inna Kalugina, Anush Hovhannisyan, Claire Barnett-Jones, and Olivia Warburton. Performances have taken him to Wigmore Hall, Salle Cortot (Paris), Alice Tully Hall (Lincoln Center), the Oxford Lieder Festival, and the Leeds Lieder Festival. His recordings include Paul Mealor’s Stabat Mater on the album Serenity and Living Voices with works by James Whitbourn. He has also been featured in broadcasts on BBC Radio 4, PBS, and NPR/WWFM.

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Beyond performance, Jonathan is active as a producer of classical music recordings, concerts, and events, with collaborations including the University of Oxford, Naxos, and Westminster Choir College. He trained at the Royal Academy of Music, Georg Solti Accademia, Tanglewood Music Center, and Westminster Choir College.