Jonathan Godfrey

Adjunct Professor, Guitar (Classical, Commercial)

Email: jonathangodfrey@usf.edu
Phone: (813) 974-2311
Office: MUS 351

Dr. Jonathan Godfrey joined the faculty at USF in 2023 and teaches guitar, commercial music, and directs the USF Guitar Ensemble. He first gained national recognition in 2011 as the Grand Prize winner of the Boston GuitarFest International Composition Competition for his Sonatina for Guitar Solo. He has been a concerto soloist with The Florida Orchestra (performing Rodrigo's Fantasia para un gentilhombre) and has appeared in over 75 concerts with the orchestra since 2018. Other engagements include performances with the Sarasota Orchestra, Choral Artists of Sarasota, Key Chorale, EnsembleNewSRQ, and members of the Jacksonville and Atlanta Symphony Orchestras, as well as numerous regional and collegiate ensembles.
 
Dr. Godfrey earned his Doctor of Music from Indiana University, his Master of Music from the Cleveland Institute of Music, and his Bachelor of Music from LaGrange College. He has taught at Florida Southern College, Saint Leo University, and the State College of Florida. His accolades include prizes from the Austin Classical Guitar Society, Indianapolis Matinee Musicale, and the National Association of Arts and Letters. His output as a composer ranges from guitar solos to his Okeechobee Concerto for banjo and orchestra (2021), and his works have been performed across the US, Canada, the UK, Serbia, Russia, South Korea, Mexico, and Brazil. He is published with ClearNote Publications and has been a repeat guest lecturer on guitar composition at the Guitar Foundation of America International Festival and Competition.
 
Dr. Godfrey is also active in popular music, having performed with Norwegian Creative Studios, William Clare Entertainment, and appearing in several Equity Broadway national tours. He originated the guitar, mandolin, and dobro book for the musical Knoxville by the legendary Broadway composer-lyricist duo Stephen Flaherty and Lynn Ahrens (Anastasia, Ragtime, Seussical) during its world-premiere run at Sarasota’s Asolo Repertory Theater. Notable artists he has accompanied include Bernadette Peters, Ana Isabelle, Byron Stripling, and the New York Cantors. Hailed as the “SunCoast’s Power Couple in Music” (SunCoast Culture Club), he regularly performs with his soprano wife Jenny Kim-Godfrey in their duo Corda Voce, offering a unique mix of jazz, cabaret, and classical arrangements.