Sources & Experts
John W. Jones
Department: Sunderman Conservatory of Music
Expertise:
Jones is an 11-time ASCAP Standard Award winner in composition and has been the recipient of numerous commissions for wind, jazz ensemble and chamber orchestra. His progressive jazz orchestra, The Buzz Jones Big Band, has toured Europe three times with appearances at the North Sea and Montreux Jazz Festivals. The band has released several compact discs: Live! At the Montreux Jazz Festival (1995), Big Band Euro Tour (1997), Millennium Swing (2000) and What’s Up in the Attic? (2007). Jones founded The Welsh Chamber Orchestra of Pennsylvania. The orchestra was featured in the 1998 Welsh International Gymanfa Ganu in Ohio; traveled to Wales and England for a six-concert tour in 1999; and performed for the 2000 North American Association for the Study of Welsh Culture Conference at Bryn Mawr college in Philadelphia. His jazz sextet performed and taught jazz workshops in German musikschule in 2004 and 2007.
Professional Achievements:
Jones is the director of the conservatory and director of the jazz ensemble at Gettysburg College. He also coordinates the theory program and teaches composition and jazz history. His articles have appeared in the Jazz Educators Journal, The Instrumentalist, and the PMEA Bulletin for Research in Music Education. He is a member of the American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers, Phi Beta Mu (International Bandmasters Fraternity), Music Educators National Conference, the Pennsylvania Music Educators Association, and is president of the International Association of Jazz Educators Pennsylvania. Jones received the Creative Arts Achievement Award from his alma mater, Lebanon Valley College in 2003.
Educational Background:
He received his bachelor’s degree from Lebanon Valley College; his master’s degree from Towson University; and his doctorate from Temple University.
Contact Information:
717.337.6132
300 North Washington Street · Gettysburg, PA 17325