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Joela Jones

Orchestral Keyboard, is principal keyboardist of The Cleveland Orchestra. She received Bachelor of Music and Master of Music degrees from CIM as a student of Victor Babin and Arthur Loesser. In 2006, she received the Institute's Distinguished Alumni Award. An artist of exceptional versatility, Ms. Jones plays piano, harpsichord, organ, celesta and accordion. She has frequently appeared as piano soloist with the Orchestra, performing 50 different concertos ranging from Bach to Messiaen. Since the renovation of Severance Hall's Norton Memorial Organ in 2001, Ms. Jones has been featured in numerous works for organ and orchestra including Saint-Saëns' Organ Symphony, Poulenc's Organ Concerto, Barber's Festival Toccata and the U.S. premiere of James MacMillan's Magnificat and Nunc Dimittis for chorus and organ. She serves as principal accompanist for the Cleveland Orchestra Chorus and for visiting vocal soloists. As a teenager, Ms. Jones made her New York debut with Arthur Fiedler and the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra at Lewisohn Stadium. She has appeared as soloist with the orchestras of Boston, Chicago, Detroit, Houston, Philadelphia and San Francisco. She chairs the piano division and coaches chamber music at Kent/Blossom Music. Included in Ms. Jones' discography are works by Poulenc and d'Indy recorded with the London Symphony Orchestra. She has recorded Janáček's Capriccio for Left Hand with Christoph von Dohnányi for Decca/London and Messiaen's La Ville d'en Haut and Sept Hï-Kaï with Pierre Boulez for Deutsche Grammophon. Her performance of Rachmaninoff's Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini with the Boston Pops was videotaped for national telecast and rebroadcast on PBS several times. Ms. Jones, along with Cleveland Orchestra colleagues Richard Weiss, Maximilian Dimoff and Donald Miller, recently released a CD of Claude Bolling's Suite for Cello and Jazz Piano Trio. She was appointed to the CIM faculty in 1993.

Photo courtesy of Roger Mastroianni (www.rogermastroianni.com)

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