After graduating cum laude from Yale University in 1978, Dr. Jones was a free-lance vocal coach and accompanist in New York City for ten years, during which time his credits include accompanying choral performances at Carnegie Hall and Lincoln Center, vocal recitals at Lincoln Center, a performance at Madison Square Garden, and Broadway and Off-Broadway shows, including Evita, Jerome Robbins' Broadway, and The Fantasticks. He received his D.M.A. in piano in 1994 from L.S.U., and taught at Minot State University in North Dakota and Missouri Southern State College in Joplin, before coming to Southeastern. Dr. Jones teaches piano and related subjects, including piano literature, piano pedagogy, music appreciation, and music theory. He has recently published Beginning Jazz Piano for Classical Pianists, which is available on Amazon. Dr. Jones performs often at Southeastern and other venues, including solo recitals, chamber music, and performances with orchestra. His aim as a teacher is to give the students what they need to move from where they are to where they need to be professionally—repertoire, technique, interpretation, memorization, and sight-reading for the piano majors; keyboard theory, sight-reading, harmonization, transposition, accompanying, and score-reading for non-piano music majors.
