One of Europe’s most versatile cellists, Norwegian-born Jonathan Aasgaard enjoys a wide-ranging international career as a soloist, chamber musician, recording artist, orchestral principal and teacher, alongside a longstanding commitment to new music.

As a soloist, Jonathan has performed more than seventy works for cello and orchestra worldwide. His highly anticipated concerto debut at the BBC Proms received unanimous five-star reviews, while The Strad has described him as “endlessly impressive.” His critically acclaimed discography includes Walton’s Cello Concerto with the Sinfonia of London, Richard Rodney Bennett’s Cello Concerto with the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra, Bloch’s Schelomo with the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra, and works for cello and orchestra by Carl Davis with the Philharmonia Orchestra. His chamber recordings include Brahms’s cello sonatas with Martin Roscoe, selected as Editor’s Choice by Gramophone. In 2026, he was nominated in the Concerto Soloist of the Year category of the BBC Music Magazine Awards.

Jonathan’s chamber music career has taken him throughout Europe, the Middle East, Japan, South Korea and the United States. He has collaborated with distinguished artists including Nigel Kennedy, Henning Kraggerud, Julian Rachlin, Lawrence Power, Yo-Yo Ma, Giovanni Sollima, Simon Trpčeski, Boris Giltburg, Joanna MacGregor and Martin Fröst, performing at major festivals and concert venues worldwide.

He is Principal Cello of the Sinfonia of London and appears regularly as Guest Principal with leading orchestras across the UK and continental Europe. Alongside his performing career, Jonathan is Professor of Cello at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama.

A dedicated champion of new music, Jonathan has given the world première of Carl Davis’s Ballade for cello and orchestra, the European première of Giovanni Sollima’s Double Cello Concerto, the UK première of Weinberg’s Cello Concerto, and the US premières of concertos by Franz Neruda and Emil Hartmann. He has also premièred numerous solo works written especially for him.

Jonathan plays a cello made by Celeste Farotti in Milan in 1926 and a second instrument built especially for him by renowned luthier Stephan von Baehr in 2026.