Jonathan Powell (OW 1987)

12 November 1969 – 27 December 2025

The Waynflete Office has been informed of the death of Jonathan Powell. We send our deepest condolences to Jonathan’s friends and family.

Jonathan Powell joined MCS as a boarder and joined the college choir in 1979. Whilst a good choral performer, his innate understanding and comprehension of music, honed by the choir, quickly nurtured his talents in composing and playing the piano. By the Third Form his compositions were being performed by the Junior School orchestra, which he was leading, and he was showing his prowess in engaging the audience through his playing.

In The Lily it was reported that whilst playing Beethoven’s piano Sonata in G that “no audience could have disturbed the performer for he soon became engrossed in the music”. A runners-up prize in a national choristers’ anthem competition followed, and he won a music scholarship to Eton College, transferring there in 1982. His last MCS performance being Haydn’s Piano Sonata No 14 in F Major where “his interpretation and technique were beyond reproach and his variations of dynamics and use of slight ritardando showed great musicianship”. He went on to be an outstanding pianist and a regular performer at the Jacqueline du Pré Building, when he occasionally popped into MCS to visit his old haunts.