About

Jonathan Cziner (silent C, rhymes with diner or minor) is an American composer whose music combines colorful harmony and texture with nostalgic lyricism, creating a sound-world that ranges from dark and mysterious to vibrant. His music has been praised for its "brilliant timbrel effects and contrasting moments of resonance and delicate filagree" (Theater Jones), “daring harmonic explorations” (Dallas Morning News) and “individual voice and the knowledge and technique to convey ideas in a striking and kaleidoscopic manner” (Chicago Classical Review). 

Jonathan's works have been performed by ensembles including the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra, Minnesota Orchestra, and New Jersey Symphony Orchestra; as well as top student and youth ensembles including the Greater Dallas Youth Orchestra, Interlochen Philharmonic, Juilliard Orchestra, and the New York Youth Symphony. He has worked with acclaimed conductors including Christian Reif, Ruth Reinhardt, Michael Repper, David Robertson, and Osmo Vänskä; and his music has been performed by the likes of violinist Stella Chen; cellists Julian Schwarz and Juliette Herlin; harpist Emily Levin; guitarist Colin Davin, and pianists George Fu, Steven Masi, and Mika Sasaki, among others. 

In addition to a 2018 Charles Ives Scholarship from the American Academy of Arts and Letters, Cziner has received numerous awards including the William Schuman Prize for most outstanding score at the 2018 BMI Composer Awards as well as two consecutive Palmer Dixon Prizes (2017 and 2018), awarded to the most outstanding work composed at the Juilliard School. Cziner was named Composer-in-Residence of the Illinois Philharmonic for their 2022-2023 season and composed three new works for the orchestra including his first symphony, Celestial Symphony.  

Jonathan is the artistic director of Dallas’s Voices of Change, a bastion of the new music scene since 1974, championing the works of living composers. As an educator, he heads the composition program of the Charles Ives Music Festival in Danbury, CT, and works closely with the Greater Dallas Youth Orchestra teaching numerous composition seminars to promote the growth and education of new music. Equally dedicated to film scoring, he is currently working on a new documentary directed by Alec Isaacs about Houston-based artist Ellen Orseck. He has also worked with writer/director Nora Unkel on numerous films including her first feature film, A Nightmare Wakes, now streaming on Shudder. 

The 25-26 season sees the premiere of his Clarinet Concerto with the Dallas Symphony in November as well as a new version for full orchestra of his 2020 work Four Lakes, which will premiere with the Greater Dallas Youth Orchestra and will be conducted by the composer himself. This season also includes repeat performances of Lunaris for violin and piano, Music for the Temple for solo harp, and his orchestral piece Rear-view with the St. Gallen Sinfonieorchester in Switzerland and the Naples Philharmonic under the baton of Ruth Reinhardt. He is currently working on a saxophone trio and a mixed sextet which are scheduled to premiere in the spring of 2026. Cziner received a Bachelor of Music degree at New York University studying with Justin Dello Joio and completed both his Master of Music and Doctor of Music degrees at The Juilliard School under the tutelage of Robert Beaser  Jonathan lives in Dallas, Texas with his wife Emily Levin, the Principal Harpist of the Dallas Symphony.