Born in New Jersey, Jonathan Carney hails from a musical family with all six members of this family having graduated from the Juilliard School in New York. After completing his studies with Ivan Galamian and Christine Dethier, he was awarded a Leverhulme Fellowship to continue his studies in London at the Royal College of Music.

After enjoying critically acclaimed international tours as both concertmaster and soloist with numerous ensembles, Mr. Carney was invited by Vladimir Ashkenazy to become concertmaster of the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra in 1991. He was also appointed concertmaster of the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra in 1994 and the Basque National Orchestra in 1996. Recent solo performances have included concertos by Bruch, Korngold, Khatchaturian, Sibelius, Nielsen, the Brahms Double Concerto and Vaughan Williams' The Lark Ascending, which was featured as a live BBC broadcast from London's Barbican Hall. He has made a number of recordings, including concertos by Mozart, Vivaldi and Nielsen, sonatas by Brahms, Beethoven and Franck, and a disc of virtuoso works of by Sarasate and Kreisler with his mother Gloria Carney as pianist. New releases include Beethoven’s Archduke and Ghost trios, the cello quintet of Schubert and a Dvorak disc with the Terzetto and four Romantic pieces for violin.

Mr. Carney first performed with the BSO during the 2001-02 season, as concertmaster during the Orchestra's European Tour (November-December) and on three subscription weekends, most notably with his moving interpretation of Richard Strauss' Ein Heldenleben.

Mr. Carney lives in Maryland with his wife Ruthie and their three children, Hannah, Luke and Gracie. His violin is the 1687 Stradivarius, the Mercur-Avery on which he uses "Vision" strings by Thomastik-Infeld. Carney's string sponsor is Connolly Music, exclusive U.S. importer of Thomastik-Infeld strings.