Guest Artist Recital: Jonathan Borja, flute
About the event
Jonathan Borja, flute
with Sophia Tegart, flute and Elena Panchenko, piano. Program will include works by Samuel Zyman and J.S. Bach. Dr. Borja will also be giving a master class Sunday, April 15. Time and place TBA.
With performances described as “the highlight of the evening” (Kansas City Star),
Jonathan Borja enjoys a varied career as a performer and educator. Jonathan was recently
appointed to the faculty of the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse as Assistant Professor
of Music to teach flute and music history. Prior to this appointment, he served on the
faculty of the Conservatory of Music and Dance of the University of Missouri-Kansas
City and was a member of the Topeka Symphony Orchestra.
Jonathan Borja holds a Doctor of Musical Arts and Master of Music in flute performance,
a Master of Music in musicology from the Conservatory of Music and Dance, University
of Missouri-Kansas City. Dr. Borja earned a Bachelor of Arts in Music from Principia
College. Before coming to the United States, Jonathan studied at the National
Conservatory of Music in his native Mexico City. His teachers and mentors include
Marie Jureit-Beamish, Mary Posses, William Everett, and Andrew Granade.
Jonathan has performed throughout the United States and Mexico and has appeared in
festivals devoted to the music of J.S. Bach, George Crumb, Gustav Mahler, Olivier
Messiaen, and Elliott Carter. He has performed as soloist with the Principia College
Orchestra, the UMKC Conservatory Wind Ensemble, and the UMKC Conservatory
Orchestra. He has performed at Steinway Hall, Helzberg Hall, Powell Symphony Hall,
Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, the Kansas City Art Institute, and the Kansas City Jewish
Museum of Contemporary Art, among others.
Jonathan has appeared in master classes throughout the United States and Europe,
studying with some of the world’s leading flutists, including Jeanne Baxtresser, Jacob
Berg, Peter-Lukas Graf, Nestor Herzsbaum, and Angela Koregelos. His continued
advocacy for the music of our time has lead him to collaborate with some of today’s
finest composers, including Chen Yi and Zhou Long, George Crumb, Yehudi Wyner,
Narong Prangcharoen, and Chester Biscardi, among others.
Dr. Borja is the recipient of the UMKC Dean of the Conservatory Doctoral Fellowship,
UMKC Musicology Graduate Fellowship, winner of the St. Louis Artist Presentation
Society Auditions, winner of the Concerto Competition at UMKC, and a prizewinner in
the SAI competitions in St. Louis and Kansas City.
Dr. Borja’s research includes the music of Mexican composers Silvestre Revueltas and
Mario Lavista. He has contributed articles to The 100 Greatest Bands of All Time: A
Guide to the Legends Who Rocked the World. He is currently working on a project on the
flute music of Icelandic composer Thorkell Sigurbjörnsson that includes a recording
(released January 2015), an article (to be published in this fall’s The Flutist Quarterly),
and a new edition of Thorkell’s flute works. He can also be heard in Narong
Prangcharoen’s recording Mantras (Albany Records).
