Dotson Plays Bolling Part I: Hispanic Dance (with a blue touch)
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Dotson Plays Bolling Part VII: Finale
Jonathan Dotson was born in the coastal town of St. Augustine, FL. He was raised around guitars and began performing professionally at the age of 13. In high school, he began studying classical guitar with Gary Piazza, who encouraged him to study music at the collegiate level. While still in high school, Jonathan was featured on Jacksonville's public radio (89.9) and television (WJXT).
Since leaving his hometown, Jonathan has studied with some of the nation's most esteemed pedagogues and performers, including Bruce Holzman, Adam Holzman, Andrew Zohn, and Mary Akerman. He has also been selected to appear in masterclasses for such heavyweights as David Russell (three times), Elliot Fisk (twice), Ricardo Cobo (twice), Sharon Isbin, Dimitri Illirianov, Arnaud Dumond, Judicael Perroy, Julian Gray, and Denis Azabagic, among others. In 2002, Jonathan was invited to Miami to perform for legendary Argentinean composer/guitarist Jorge Morel at the Guitar Foundation of America convention. Jonathan is an avid supporter of new music for the guitar, and has performed several world premiers of brand new works for the classical guitar by up and coming composers.
Most recently, Jonathan has become active in the international solo guitar competition circuit, and has claimed several top prizes:
First Prize, 2008 'Classical Minds' Guitar Festival and Competition
First prize, 2005 Appalachian International Solo Guitar Competition
Third Prize, 2007 Texas International Guitar Competition,
Third Prize, 2007 St. Joseph International Guitar Competition
Fourth Prize, 2008 Boston GuitarFest; and
Fourth Prize, 2005 East Carolina Solo Guitar Competition.
In addition, Jonathan is a founding member of the Texas Guitar Quartet, who gained critical acclaim at the 2006 'Guitars Galore!' festival in Austin, TX, and who claimed First Prize with 'Special Merit' at the 2007 Brownsville Guitar Ensemble Competition.
In addition to classical guitar, Jonathan toured the Southeast playing electric guitar with the eclectic rock group Six Degrees, whose two CD's sold thousands of copies. Currently, he can be seen performing with Texas R&B artist Patty David, with whom he collaborates, records, and performs. He also played electric and acoustic guitars in several mainstage theater productions including the Florida State University Theater's productions of "Antigone", Shakespeare's "Twelfth Night", and the off-Broadway classic "Working", Kennesaw State University's production of the Broadway hit "Shenandoah", and the University of Texas' Opera department's production of Monteverdi's "Poppea".
Jonathan currently holds two degrees in music, A Bachelor of Music in Performance from Kennesaw State University in Georgia, and a Master of Music in Performance from the University of Texas at Austin. Jonathan is currently engaged in doctoral studies at the University of Texas, where he has received numerous scholarships and awards.
