Jonathan Villegas believes in the value of educating future generations of musicians and leaders, by creating music that can inspire and connect with local communities through the engagement of this art form and its intersectional potential. Jonathan currently serves as the Wind Ensemble Director of the Music Advancement Program at The Juilliard School, Founding Conductor of the Bridge Ensemble the New Jersey Symphony Youth Orchestra, and serves as Wind Ensembles Director at Baltimore Symphony Orchestra's OrchKids.

     

    As a conductor, cellist, actor, clinician, and educator, their mission is to continue transforming the world through all art forms by using our musical gifts to help cultivate lasting relationships that will develop opportunities to continue uplifting underserved communities.  After having spent the last few years performing in Portland, Oregon as the Assistant Conductor to the Portland State University Orchestra, Bands & Opera, Jonathan now resides in Baltimore, Maryland.

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    From the desire to be a well-informed and multi-faceted symphonic conductor, Jonathan graduated with a master's in music in Wind Conducting at the Peabody Institute at the Johns Hopkins University in 2025 with Dr. Harlan Parker, as an Artistic Excellence Scholar.  He hopes to use their expertise as a cellist, background as a teacher and clinician to youth string orchestras and concert bands, along with their recent experience conducting multiple types of collegiate ensembles of contemporary to classical backgrounds, towards expanding their skill-sets with the art of conducting any ensemble.​

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With a passion for all their students to always have fun creating high-level music, Jonathan aims to use their expertise as a conductor, towards inspiring young musicians to achieve their dreams, because after surviving all sorts of adversity through their background in representing several marginalized groups, he believes that through our passion for music, anything is possible when you believe in its transformative and healing nature. 

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Jonathan aims to share their diverse and dynamic background as a performer and educator, to continue to connect all aspects of music with one another, while being an ambitious and positive leader as a proud Latinx and queer performer. You can find Jonathan playing cello for various recording projects, teaching a variety of winds, brass, stringed and percussion instruments to 100s of students every week, and on the podium conducting all along the East Coast.