Player Portrait

Jonathan Dubay

Violin

First season with the Oregon Symphony:

1992-1993

Most influential teacher(s):

My music teachers while I grew up in Portland were important. Among them is Michael Foxman, with whom I studied for six years, who taught me the value of continually exploring music and who introduced me to chamber music.

Earliest musical memory:

Music in the home — my mother playing recorder and guitar, my grandmother playing piano and a recorded introduction to the orchestra on LP.

"I first knew I would make music my career when ... "

I heard the Juilliard String Quartet play in Portland when I was in high school. I am fortunate to have studied with those musicians at the Juilliard School ten years later.

"Other than performing music, I've always thought it might be fun to be a ... "

A teacher, as I am especially curious about how and why we learn; a scientist, as I enjoy figuring out how things work; an explorer, as I have difficulty sitting still; a monk, to welcome a rising tide of inner calm. There is a little of all of these in being a musician.

Favorite composer and/or period?

I have no favorites, but I am very interested in Bela Bartok recently, particularly his assimilation of Hungarian folksong into the Western classical tradition.

Why did you choose this pose for your photograph?

My wife Robin (who is also a violinist) and I put our son Liam in the violin case to show that the best in our lives has come in some way or other from the violin.

What do you enjoy most about performing?

The challenge.

Other than playing great music, what do you see as the Symphony's most important role?

To invite and perhaps even challenge the audience to listen in new ways.

What is your favorite part of being a member of the Oregon Symphony?

The opportunity to make music for so many people.

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