Jonathan Antoine

Jonathan Antoine (born 13 January 1995), is a classically trained Tenor from Hainault, Essex. He rose to fame after appearing on the sixth series of Britain's Got Talent in 2012 as one half of the classical duo Jonathan and Charlotte. He has since gone solo and his debut album Tenore was released in the UK on 13 October 2014.

Early life

Jonathan Antoine was born to John, a police inspector, and Tracy, a housewife. Neither was a musician, but they soon understood that their son had a special vocal gift. When he enrolled at West Hatch High School in Chigwell at the age of 11 he began to hone this talent and it was here that he met two people who were to influence him greatly: the singing coach Jenny Ewington and the head of music Ginette Brown. “I started having lessons with Mrs Ewington, and just took to it," he explains. "It was so nurturing. She was inspirational, and she became a fantastic friend”.

At around the age of 13 his voice broke. As his new sound was settling, Jenny Ewington encouraged him to sing challenging numbers such as Bring Him Home from Les Misérables, a song that brought him much attention at the 2010 Stratford and East London Music Festival where he earned the title“Young Musician of The Year” and to explore core-classical repertoire such as Bach/Gounod’s Ave Maria which he performed at The Royal Festival Hall in London, England as part of the Rotary “Youth Makes Music” event in 2011. His talents were soon noticed further afield too. At 14, he auditioned for a junior place at the four major music conservatories in London and was accepted at all of them. He chose to go to the Royal Academy of Music, “because it was near Madame Tussaud’s” he jokes. He was taught there by the highly regarded singing teacher Sara Reynolds. At this time he also began to take guitar lessons. (He now describes himself as “a guitar nut” with a collection of six, seven, and eight-string guitars, plus two basses and a ukulele).

Back at school, Mrs Brown encouraged Antoine to sing in concerts as she thought it might help with his shyness. “Jonathan came into his own” she says. “All the students would see him and say that he was the boy with the incredible voice”. Antoine himself slowly began to understand the power of his gift too. “I sang the duet Time To Say Goodbye with my friend Stephanie, and there was absolute silence from the audience. It was wonderful – and then we got a standing ovation. It was then I thought: I can really do this”. Ginette Brown asked Antoine and his friend Charlotte Jaconelli to sing The Prayer at her wedding in 2011.

Career

Britain's Got Talent

In 2012 Jonathan and Charlotte sent an audition video to the talent show Britain’s Got Talent and during a dark moment in Antoine's life they received a call to attend auditions. “I was so depressed, I didn’t really care about it” he says. “It was only when I was standing in front of Simon Cowell and 14 million viewers that it suddenly felt real”.

Audition

Their first Britain's Got Talent performance together was in the Series 6 audition held in London, aired 24 March 2012. There they began the contest as "Charlotte and Jonathan" (though their name was later reversed), and sang "The Prayer" which won the hearts of the nation and went viral on YouTube.

Semi-final

They participated in the semi-final which was held on 7 May 2012. The song, performed as a duet, was "Caruso", written by Lucio Dalla.

Final

In the final, held on 12 May 2012, they appeared 11th, again performing "The Prayer", and received a standing ovation for their performance. Fans expressed disappointment that the duo did not win first place (they finished second) which was instead awarded to the dancing dog act Ashleigh and Pudsey.

2012–14: Together and Perhaps Love

Together

It was confirmed the day after the show (13 May 2012), that Simon Cowell was in negotiations to offer Jonathan and Charlotte a £1 million recording contract with his record label, Syco.^[1] The pair were later offered a contract,^[2] and released their debut album Together on 24 September 2012 in the UK and 30 October 2012 in the US. The pair worked with producer Graham Stack, who was behind the first three albums of X Factor opera stars G4.

Perhaps Love

Their second album was released on 14 October 2013 having switched from SyCo/Columbia records to Sony Classical and was described as an album of covers that also contained classical songs and interpretations of modern songs too.

Early 2014: Jonathan and Charlotte Split

In February 2014, the duo decided to split up after both were offered solo record deals.^[3] In a statement on their website, Jonathan and Charlotte said:

We have had the most exciting journey together ever since meeting at West Hatch High School in 2006 and are so happy for each other. To come second on BGT and sell over quarter of a million albums was beyond our wildest dreams. To now be offered our own solo record deals by Sony Classical is the most exciting thing ever and we are thrilled to be going back into the recording studio so soon. For those that voted for us, bought our CDs and saw us in concert – thank you. We hope to see you soon at our own shows. Love Jonathan and Charlotte.^[4]

Present: Solo Career and Tenore

Jonathan Antoine's new album 'Tenore' - Italian for Tenor - was released in the UK on 13 October 2014. It contains a selection of well known classic songs as well as arias . The album is produced by music producer, Anna Barry^[5] who has worked with Andrea Bocelli, Jose Carreras, the Kirov Opera and Andrew Lloyd Webber.

Track List:

1. Rigoletto, Act III: 'La donna è mobile' 2. Torna a Surriento 3. Nel blu, dipinto di blu (Volare) 4. Be My Love 5. Parla Più Piano (from The Godfather) 6. Panis Angelicus 7. L'elisir d'amore, Act II: 'Una furtiva lagrima' 8. So Deep is the Night (Arranged from Chopin's Tristesse, Etude Op. 10/3) 9. Arrivederci, Roma 10 Core'ngrato 11. Granada 12. Love Changes Everything (from Aspects of Love)

He has completed a Balcony Roadshow tour of the UK, culminating in an appearance at the iTunes Festival 2014 at the invitation of Plácido Domingo. He has also started a solo career America and has performed at the 2014 Muhammad Ali Celebrity Fight Night in Arizona and in states such as California and Florida.

Jonathan Antoine feels grateful for everything that has happened thanks to Britain’s Got Talent: “The overarching result is that now I’m in a far better place.... I’d like to say to those people who bullied me in former times: you actively tried to make me unhappy, but now I’m far happier than you will ever be”.

Discography

Albums

References

External links

• Official website.
• Jonathan Antoine official page on Facebook
• Follow Jonathan Antoine on Twitter
• The Jonathan Antoine Fan Site