Jonathan Trout studied the violin at the Royal Manchester College of Music before taking a music degree at the University of York. He then worked as a freelance violinist with orchestras including the Ulster Orchestra, the New Sadlers Wells Opera and the Birmingham Royal Ballet before taking up a post in 1980 as Course Director in Music at a Nottinghamshire community school. While he was there he wrote and directed a number of youth music projects in conjunction with the drama department before leaving in the late 1980s to concentrate on conducting.
Since 1987 Jonathan has been Principal Conductor of the Derby Concert Orchestra. He is also founder of the Derby Chamber Orchestra. Both have enabled him to develop an extensive repertoire and to gain invaluable experience building orchestras. In 1996 Jonathan attended the International Conductors' Institute in Bulgaria, working with the Varna State Philharmonic and in 1997 visited Romania conducting the Sinfonia Bucharest in the celebrated Athenaeum Hall in Bucharest. In 1997 Jonathan was invited to conduct The London Schubert Players on a tour of England and Wales including an appearance at the Gregynog Festival.
In January 2000 - also with the LSP - he gave the UK première of Constantin Silvestri's own string orchestra arrangement of his Second String Quartet at the Purcell Room on London’s South Bank. In December 2000, Jonathan conducted the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic's 'Ensemble Ten Ten' and the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Youth Choir in the first performance of 'Flea Circus' by Gary Carpenter. This programme also included Menotti's opera Amahl and the Night Visitors. Other recent performances have included the Fifth and Sixth symphonies of Mahler in Derby Cathedral, Shostakovich's 5th Symphony and the Tchaikovsky's Manfred Symphony. Jonathan enjoys directing contemporary music conducting the Berg Violin Concerto in July 2000 and Judith Weir's 'Natural History' in March 2001.
Future engagements include further work with the London Schubert Players and conducting for the Benslow Music Trust in Hitchin. Building on choral collaborations which have included the Brahms and Mozart Requiems and the Stravinsky Symphony of Psalms, Jonathan will conduct Beethoven's Ninth Symphony in Derby Cathedral in July 2002. Jonathan enjoys an eclectic repertoire and is available for all types of engagements.