Jonathon Cole-Swinard is a British conductor, choral director, and vocal coach. In a career spanning opera, choral, and vocal music he is recognised for his inspirational training of both professional and amateur singers.
He is Head of Music and Chorus Director at Garsington Opera, Associate Artistic Director of Mascarade Opera in Florence, and Musical Director of Wooburn Singers.
Jonathon is passionate about the training of young singers: he spent six years on the faculty of the Georg Solti Accademia and two years as Artistic Director of the Scottish Opera Young Company. At Garsington, he is Music Director of the Alvarez Emerging Artists' Programme and works regularly as a visiting vocal coach and conductor in the major UK music colleges.
Recent projects include conductor Elisir d’amore (Garsington Emerging Artists, Philharmonia Orchestra), The Gondoliers (Scottish Opera), Orfeo ed Euridice (SO Young Company), musical director Opera Scenes (Guildhall School, Royal College of Music, and Royal Academy of Music).
Jonathon studied at Oxford University and the Guildhall School of Music and Drama and began his career as Emerging Artist repetiteur at Scottish Opera. He then joined the music staff at the Staatstheater Nürnberg where he made his conducting debut aged 25 before returning to the UK as Chorus Director at Scottish Opera.