1. How long have you been in the Chorus? I am not entirely sure, but I remember bringing a photo of my then-newborn daughter Lili to the first rehearsal of the season 12 years ago (my best “what I did over summer break” story ever). And I remember one night even earlier when my wife Karen, standing outside Founder’s Hall after picking me up from practice, told me that I was going to be a father. So while I can say I’ve been in the chorus for at least 13 years, I like to think I’ve been a KCSC member for a lifetime.
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| Lili (2 months) |
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| Lili (now) |
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| Jonathan and Karen |
2. Occupation? I am a greeting card editor at Hallmark Cards. If you got a holiday card with a crown on the back, I’m pretty sure I had at least something to do with what it said. A side perk is that every once in a while they ask me to sing or play characters on Keepsake Ornaments or sound cards. Just this week I got an email inviting me to sing for a Wizard of Oz ornament; I was pretty pleased about myself until I opened the invite and saw it was an audition for the Cowardly Lion. Ah well, that's showbiz.
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| In the Hallmark sound studio |
3. From which school(s) are you an Alumni? I’ve graduated from Raytown High School and the University of Kansas.
4. Have you always lived in Kansas City? I have – in fact, my house is less than 10 minutes away from the hospital where I was born.
5. Do you have any pets? Two sibling cats: Scooter and Rosie
6. What is your favorite color to wear? My wife has pointed out often how often I wear blue.
7. Do you prefer buttered, plain, or salted popcorn? Plain popcorn for me please. I worked at a movie theater when I was a kid, and I got my fill of buttered topping there.
8. What time do you get up in the morning? I get up at 4:45am to be at the gym by 5am. I used to be a total night owl, but if I keep my gym bag and car keys beside the bed I am usually dressed and behind the wheel before my brain is able to process the absurdity of what I’m doing in the morning.
9. What is something you enjoy spending your time doing, outside of Chorus? For a few years I’ve been playing the guitar in my spare time. It’s funny because as a child when I was learning to play the violin I would get in trouble if I forgot my solo and tried to play the tune by ear. But when I first started playing pop music, people looked at me like I was deficient if I tried to find the sheet music for a song instead of trying to play it by ear.
10. What season do you like best? Definitely Summer – I don’t mind the heat and Daylight Savings Time means I see the sunrise when I leave the gym.
