Jonathan Hill
Violinist.
Jonathan began playing the violin at the age of 5 and made his concerto debut in the Royal Festival Hall performing the Bach Concerti at the age of 8. Ten years later he was to turn professional, and commence his career playing with all the major London orchestras. He soon progressed to commercial session work, where he has worked with such illustrious artists as Madonna, Robbie and Kylie. This line of work has also led to film sessions and Jonathan has been involved with the soundtracks of many blockbusters including The Lord of the Rings trilogy, the mummy returns and sleepy hollow.
His classical experience does not end there though having appeared in the cast albums for several musicals and shows including Cats, Chitty, Joseph, Jesus Christ and Evita. To cap this, he was appointed leader of the west end hit musical ‘La Cava’, making him the youngest leader on a west end show. Most recently he was the Guest leader of the hit show ‘Les Miserables’ and continues to be it’s principal guest leader in it’s new theatre.
Having given numerous solo performances, including recitals as far-afield as New Zealand and Wales, Jonathan decided in 2000 to pursue this path further in the guise as a Signed artist to E.M.I, as part of the Classical Fusion group ‘The Planets’ . Sure enough the exhibitionist in him came bounding to the surface (it didn’t have to travel far..) and he came into his own prancing round on stage in tight clothes for two years. This experience not only helped him develop his presence as a soloist, but also enabled him to flaunt what he believes to be his ‘striking good looks’, appearing in photo shoots and interviews for magazines such as Hello and O.K!
Jonathan has now returned to the classical scene. He is currently leading ‘Singin’ in the Rain’ at Saddler’s Wells Theatre. As well as filming and recording ‘Phantom of the Opera’- the movie, in which he plays the leader of the orchestra his other projects include the recording of two commercial solo albums, writing and presenting a classical radio show and several concerto appearances performing the Korngold Concerto in D in spring 2005.
In amongst this hectic schedule, Jonathan pursues his main interest Karate, having gained 7 belts in 1 year and 4 days his next challenge is achieving the Assistant Instructor Certificate in record time. With swimming and surfing as well, Jonathan is seriously considering increasing the number of hours in his day….
