Jonathan Sage is a freelance clarinettist based in York. England. At the age of 24, he already has an impressive track record, having performed widely as a soloist and ensemble-member also premiering many solo clarinet pieces especially composed for him. Educated at the University of York, England, Jonathan graduated with a BA (honours) in music in 2006. He then undertook a postgraduate degree in Music Performance under Bill Brooks and graduated in July 2008 (with distinction). His teachers include Alan Hacker, Lesley Schatzberger and Margaret Archibald and he has participated in master-classes with Alan Hacker, Sir Harrison Birtwistle, Lesley Schatzberger, Matthew Hunt and Guy Eshed.
Jonathan made his concerto debut in 2002, playing the Weber Concertino with the Cambridge Youth Orchestra and since then has gone on to play as soloist with the London Mozart Players and the York Sinfonietta. A highlight of his concerto career came at the Dartington International Festival when, at less than 24 hours notice, he stepped in for Alan Hacker to play the Mozart Clarinet Concerto (on Hacker’s basset clarinet) with the Dartington Festival Orchestra under conductor Diego Masson. As a recitalist and ensemble musician, Jonathan has performed at the Dartington International Festival, the York Spring Festival, the Ergodos Festival the Late Music Festival (in which he was the soloist/director in a rare ‘all live’ performance of Steve Reich’s New York Counterpoint), the 2007 International Conference on Music Since 1900, the York Microtonal Fayre and the University of York Concert Series. He has played with groups including the Chimera Ensemble and Matrix, working with musicians such as Jane Manning, Stephen De Pledge and Matthew Hunt, and is a member of the Jorvik contemporary music group. As an orchestral musician, Jonathan has played with many orchestras including the New Mozart Orchestra, the York Guildhall Orchestra and the Scarborough Symphony Orchestra.
Jonathan also has a passion for contemporary music and in November 2008 embarked on his first solo tour to Ireland performing works by Stockhausen, Carter, Sweeney and Garrett Sholdice, as well as two new works from composers Alex Harker and Jonathan Nangle, commissioned with funding from the Irish Arts Council.
Jonathan is also committed to music education, giving lectures on contemporary clarinet techniques at Trinity College Dublin and Dundalk Institute of Technology. He has given demonstrations and workshops at a many of schools and also participated in the London Mozart Players’ ‘Orchestra in a Village’ project aimed at expanding music in the community.