Organist, Jonathan Dimmock (www.JonathanDimmock.com) is recognized internationally as a concert artist with a probing intellect, warm stage presence, and love of communicating. His musicianship is enjoyed by at least 100,000 people each year through his constant performing and recording. An innovative programmer, he plays weekly at the Legion of Honor Museum where he is the Principal Organist. He is also the Organist for the San Francisco Symphony (since 2005) and is in constant demand as an organ accompanist. Touring several times each year, he is one of the few organists in the world to perform on six continents. From St. Peter’s in Rome to Notre Dame in Paris, and from Carnegie Hall to the Cultural Center in Hong Kong, Jonathan creates programs unique to each venue, always following a relevant theme to help engage his listeners.
A graduate of Oberlin and Yale, he had the unique privilege of being the only American to serve as Organ Scholar of Westminster Abbey after which he continued his career in the United States serving three cathedrals: St. John the Divine (New York City), St. Mark’s (Minneapolis), and Grace (San Francisco). Jonathan lives in San Francisco, where, for over twelve years, he was Music Director at St. Ignatius Church (the largest Jesuit church in the United States) and where he bases his extensive freelance career. He is especially renowned for his interpretations of the music of Bach and Messiaen.
Jonathan has recorded more than fifty CDs including a Grammy Award-winning CD of Mahler Symphony 8 with the San Francisco Symphony. In addition to hundreds of listings on YouTube, iTunes, Spotify, and other online music sites, he has been interviewed and featured on numerous radio and television stations including National Public Radio, Radio France, BBC3, ABC (Australia), MTV2 (Budapest), BCC (Barbados), and SABC (South Africa). His teachers and mentors include Olivier Messiaen, Gillian Weir, Jean Langlais, Simon Preston, Peter Hallock, Haskell Thomson, William Porter, Thomas Murray, and Harald Vogel.
Jonathan’s creativity is that of a visionary. His numerous blog writings, his passion for communicating, and his personal focus have been the impetus for his founding of five nonprofit organizations, including the highly acclaimed American Bach Soloists (ABS), Artists’ Vocal Ensemble (AVE), and, most recently, The Resonance Project – using live music to transform conflict and find common ground. This project (www.Music-Resonance.org) has led him to interview some of the greatest musicians in the world, all of whom share his excitement about the interface between music and neuroscience. The project has garnered attention from the United Nations, the U.S. Dept. of State, and President Obama. Jonathan is deeply committed to sharing the transformative power of music with the whole world.
“This will be our reply to violence:
to make music more intensely, more beautifully, more devotedly than ever before.”
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