Hailed by the Virginia Pilot for “his beautiful tone, lyricism and superb dynamic shadings… simply stunning.” and by the Washington Post for “…bringing real drama” to his performances, violinist Jonathan Richards has performed throughout the United States and Canada as both a chamber musician and soloist. He has won numerous competitions and has appeared as soloist with the Kishwaukee Symphony, the Orchestra of St. Vincent’s of Chicago, the Judson College Symphony, the Northern Illinois University Philharmonic, the University of Maryland Symphony Orchestra, and the Virginia Symphony Orchestra. Richards has gained accolades in DC’s new music scene for his performances with the esteemed VERGE ensemble, the Grammy nominated Inscape Chamber Orchestra, and the New Music Ensemble of Towson. As an orchestral musician, he has performed regularly with the Fairfax Symphony, Annapolis Symphony, Alexandria Symphony, Chesapeake Symphony, and National Philharmonic along with the Concert Artists of Baltimore, Post-Classical Orchestra,  Washington Soloists, and Baltimore Symphony. He is currently the Assistant Principal second violin of the Virginia Symphony Orchestra and is also a member of the Chautauqua Symphony Orchestra. An avid chamber musician, Richards was a founding member of the Adelphi String Quartet as well as a member of the critically acclaimed Excelsa Quartet. As a recording artist, Richards has recorded Walter Gieseking’s works for string quartet and string trio for the Naxos label with the Adelphi Quartet, and has recorded world premieres for the Sono Luminus label with the Inscape Chamber Orchestra. In addition to performing with the Virginia Symphony, Jonathan is also a faculty member at the Governor's School for the Arts, where he teaches music theory and coaches chamber ensembles.