Jonathan Coopersmith

A native of Princeton, New Jersey, Jonathan Coopersmith is a highly regarded teacher, conductor, and lecturer on music theory and analysis, music history, and music’s relationship to well-being. He has been a member of the Curtis faculty since 2005 and has served as Chair of the Musical Studies department since 2010. He has served as Associate Conductor for The Philadelphia Singers for 12 years and the Artistic Director of Nashirah for seven years, and has been a frequent guest chorus director of the Philadelphia Orchestra and the Pennsylvania Ballet, preparing choral ensembles for performances with Sir Simon Rattle, John Adams, Rafael Frühbeck de Burgos, Wolfgang Sawallisch, Christoph Eschenbach, Charles Dutoit, and Yannick Nézet-Séguin. Mr. Coopersmith has been a regular guest lecturer in the Masters of Applied Positive Psychology program at the University of Pennsylvania, speaking about music and well-being. He recently wrote a chapter for a multi-volume set as part of the Humanities and Human Flourishing Project, titled Musical Flourishes: Lessons from a Conservatory, which was published by Oxford University Press in 2023. In addition, Mr. Coopersmith has been the festival host and a guest conductor at the world-renown Music From Angel Fire summer music festival since 2015, and is a sought-after lecturer in the Philadelphia area with recent lectures at the Philadelphia Chamber Music Society and the Philadelphia Museum of Art. Mr. Coopersmith holds a bachelor’s degree in music theory and composition from the University of Pennsylvania, where he studied with George Crumb, and a master’s degree in orchestral conducting from Mannes College of Music, where he studied theory and analysis with Carl Schachter and Edward Aldwell. He has also studied at the Pierre Monteux School for conductors and orchestra musicians.