Jonathan Edwards
Biography
Jonathan Edwards serves as lecturer of guitar at Eastern Michigan University. His career as an educator, performer and songwriter extends across many areas of guitar style from classical to rock, and regularly sees him giving recitals, performing with the Ann Arbor based jazz group Big Fun- a tribute group to Miles Davis’ electric period, and releasing albums of original pop music. Previous projects have been voted “Underground Artist of the Year” by Spin Magazine, and songs he wrote or co-wrote have been featured on major television networks such as ABC, MTV and on Cartoon Network’s Adult Swim.
He attended Indiana University's Jacobs School of Music for classical guitar performance, studying with internationally acclaimed guitarists Ernesto Bitetti and Petar Jankovic. He also studied extensively with Dr. Nelson Amos at Eastern Michigan University and holds Bachelor of Music and Master of Music degrees in Guitar Performance from EMU.
In addition to his work at Eastern, Jonathan is a lecturer at The University of Michigan-School of Music, Theatre & Dance where he has created, developed and currently teaches guitar classes in both popular styles and traditional finger-style technique. He has previously taught guitar classes and applied lessons at Siena Heights University and the Flint Institute of Music, and has maintained a personal studio of private students for over 15 years. He has directed the Eastern Michigan University Classical Guitar Ensemble and actively works with students in the music therapy program at the University to develop their clinical guitar skills.
Jonathan brings a multifaceted pedagogical approach to his teaching, building a diverse selection of guitar repertoire, fostering artistry and musicianship, and developing improvisation, composition and arrangement skill sets with his students.