Born on the shores of the Great Lake Michigan (one hundred times the size of the Lake Geneva), Jonathan Haskell has been co-principal double bass of the Orchestre de la Suisse Romande since 1978. A student of Joseph Guastafeste (Principal of the Chicago Symphony) he obtained his Bachelors and Masters degrees from Yale University where he studied with Homer Mensch (double bass) and Otto-Werner Mueller (conducting).

In 1973 he was the youngest member of the Basel Symphony Orchestra at age nineteen. He has played with Contrechamps since 1981 and gave the Swiss premiere of Ai Piedi del Faroby Luca Lombardi for double bass and ensemble.

After having studied with Léon Barzin in Paris and participating in Master-Classes of Rafael Kubelik, his activity as conductor has led him to direct performances and recordings with such ensembles as the Liège, Strasbourg and Monte-Carlo Philharmonic Orchestres, the Tonhalle of Zurich, the Orchestre de la Suisse Romande and the radio orchestras of Lugano and Basel. Recently he led the premiere of The Death of Michel Servetby the Australian composer Shauna Beesley. Since 2010 he directs the Festival Orchestra of the Variations Musicales de Tannay, accompanying such soloists as Ophélie Gaillard, Edgard Moreau and Renaud Capuçon.