About Me
A native of Austin, Texas, Jonathan Wilson has been performing in the Chicago area since 2015, working with many local opera and theater companies. An enthusiast of contemporary opera, Jonathan most recently performed the role of Hannah Before in the critically-acclaimed Chicago premiere of Kaminsky, Campbell, and Reed's As One with Chicago Fringe Opera. Jonathan also recently performed as John Brooke in Adamo’s Little Women with Chicago Vocal Arts Consortium and in the mid-western premieres of Richard Wargo’s opera, The Seduction of a Lady (Peter Semyonych), with Transgressive Theatre-Opera and in Hilliard’s and Boresi’s charming comedic opera, The Filthy Habit (Gil), with Third Eye Theatre Ensemble. Jonathan also had the opportunity to be part of the world premiere of the full length work Cosmic Ray and the Amazing Chris (Quintar, Nerd 2) with Thompson Street Opera Company.
At home in many different musical styles, Jonathan recently appeared in Theo Ubique’s 2017 Jeff Award-winning production of the musical The Most Happy Fella (Ciccio, Jake) in Chicago. Other musical theatre and operetta performances include Assassins (Zangara) with Petite Opera Company, several productions with The Gilbert and Sullivan Opera Company of Chicago, and multiple productions of Monty Python’s Spamalot.
Passionate about bringing music and opera to new audiences and across cultural barriers, Jonathan was excited to take part in a production of Donizetti’s Rita (Gasparo) in 2016, sung in Italian, to introduce children to opera and foreign language. Additionally, he toured with Chicago Opera Playhouse’s new opera, Once Upon a Windy City (Al Capone), composed entirely from the ideas and stories of Chicago Public School students. Jonathan also made his Symphony Center solo debut in 2015, performing in Mandarin with the Dong Fang Chinese Performing Arts Association, in Xian Xinghai's The Yellow River Cantata in celebration of the 70th anniversary of the end of World War II.
Outside of performing, Jonathan is passionate about math and science, and he greatly admires the creative overlap between the scientific and musical arts to explore the intricacy, complexity, and beauty of the world. He holds a BS degree with highest honors from the University of Illinois in Engineering Physics with a minor in Mathematics and a MS degree from the University of Michigan in Applied Electromagnetics and RF Circuits. He has worked as a radio frequency electrical engineer and a lecturer of physics, astronomy, and Earth science.