Samuel Jones (composer)
Encyclopedia
Samuel Jones is an American composer
and conductor
.
(b.1935), graduated from the Central High School in Jackson
and received his undergraduate degree with highest honors at Millsaps College
. He acquired his professional training at the Eastman School of Music
, where he earned his M.A. and Ph.D. degrees in composition under Howard Hanson
, Bernard Rogers
, and Wayne Barlow
. His mentors in conducting include Richard Lert
and William Steinberg
.
Jones enjoyed his earliest success as a conductor, advancing through the ranks of smaller American orchestras to become music director of the Rochester Philharmonic. He was then asked to help found a significant new music school in Houston, Texas
. He served as the first dean of the Shepherd School of Music
at Rice University
, building its faculty and facilities over six years as dean. Jones continued to serve as professor of composition and conducting after stepping down as dean, while serving as director of graduate studies. Jones influenced a number of conductors and composers through his work as a teacher at Rice and in workshops of the Conductors Guild
and League of American Orchestras
. His students include a number of accomplished composers and conductors, including Gabriela Lena Frank
, Larry Rachleff and Andrew Levin.
In 1997 Jones was appointed Composer in Residence at the Seattle Symphony
. He retired from full-time academic life after 24 years at Rice to relocate to the Pacific Northwest and dedicate more of his attention to composition.
Samuel Jones's compositions include an oratorio and three symphonies as well as shorter orchestral works, works for chorus and orchestra, opera, chamber music and works for children. His music has been performed by the Philadelphia Orchestra
, the Seattle Symphony
, the Detroit Symphony, the Utah Symphony, the Houston Symphony, the Cincinnati Symphony, the Rochester Philharmonic, the Louisville Orchestra
, the New Orleans Philharmonic and many others. His music is published by Carl Fischer and Campanile Music Press and is recorded by Naxos, CRI, Gasparo, ACA, and Centennial Records.
Jones’s work as a conductor includes serving as conductor of the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra
and Saginaw Symphony Orchestra. He has been engaged as a guest conductor by the Detroit Symphony Orchestra
, the Houston Symphony Orchestra
, the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra
, the Buffalo Philharmonic, the Prague Symphony Orchestra
, and the Iceland Symphony Orchestra. Early in his career he founded the Alma Symphony and the Delta College Summer Festival of Music in Michigan. He serves as music advisor to the Flint Symphony Orchestra in Michigan
.
Samuel Jones has served as president of the Conductors Guild
and received numerous awards and prizes. These include a Ford Foundation
Recording/Publication Award, grants from Martha Baird Rockefeller Foundation and National Endowment for the Arts
grants, ASCAP awards, an International Angel Award, three Music Awards from the Mississippi Institute of Arts and Letters
, and the Seattle Symphony's 2002 Artistic Recognition Award for outstanding service to the orchestra. Millsaps College awarded him an honorary doctorate in May 2000. The same year he was inducted into the inaugural class of the Mississippi Musicians Hall of Fame
. He was recently named the Music Alive Composer in Residence for the Meridian Symphony Orchestra by Meet The Composer
and the League of American Orchestras
.
Composer
A composer is a person who creates music, either by musical notation or oral tradition, for interpretation and performance, or through direct manipulation of sonic material through electronic media...
and conductor
Conducting
Conducting is the art of directing a musical performance by way of visible gestures. The primary duties of the conductor are to unify performers, set the tempo, execute clear preparations and beats, and to listen critically and shape the sound of the ensemble...
.
Biography
Samuel Jones, a native of MississippiMississippi
Mississippi is a U.S. state located in the Southern United States. Jackson is the state capital and largest city. The name of the state derives from the Mississippi River, which flows along its western boundary, whose name comes from the Ojibwe word misi-ziibi...
(b.1935), graduated from the Central High School in Jackson
Jackson, Mississippi
Jackson is the capital and the most populous city of the US state of Mississippi. It is one of two county seats of Hinds County ,. The population of the city declined from 184,256 at the 2000 census to 173,514 at the 2010 census...
and received his undergraduate degree with highest honors at Millsaps College
Millsaps College
Millsaps College is a private liberal arts college located in Jackson, Mississippi. Founded in 1890, the college is recognized as one of the country's best private colleges dedicated to undergraduate teaching and educating the whole individual. Affiliated with the United Methodist Church, Millsaps...
. He acquired his professional training at the Eastman School of Music
Eastman School of Music
The Eastman School of Music is a music conservatory located in Rochester, New York. The Eastman School is a professional school within the University of Rochester...
, where he earned his M.A. and Ph.D. degrees in composition under Howard Hanson
Howard Hanson
Howard Harold Hanson was an American composer, conductor, educator, music theorist, and champion of American classical music. As director for 40 years of the Eastman School of Music, he built a high-quality school and provided opportunities for commissioning and performing American music...
, Bernard Rogers
Bernard Rogers
Bernard Rogers was an American composer.Rogers was born in New York City. He studied with Arthur Farwell, Ernest Bloch, Percy Goetschius, and Nadia Boulanger. He taught at the Cleveland Institute of Music, The Hartt School, and the Eastman School of Music...
, and Wayne Barlow
Wayne Barlow
Wayne B. Barlow was an American composer of contemporary classical music...
. His mentors in conducting include Richard Lert
Richard Lert
Richard Lert was an American conductor of Austrian birth. Born in Vienna, he was the younger brother of stage director Ernst Lert. After graduating with a music degree from the University of Vienna, he took a conducting post at the Opernhaus Düsseldorf in 1910...
and William Steinberg
William Steinberg
William Steinberg was a German-American conductor.- Biography :Steinberg was born Hans Wilhelm Steinberg in Cologne, Germany. He displayed early talent as a violinist, pianist, and composer, conducting his own choral/ orchestral composition at age 13...
.
Jones enjoyed his earliest success as a conductor, advancing through the ranks of smaller American orchestras to become music director of the Rochester Philharmonic. He was then asked to help found a significant new music school in Houston, Texas
Texas
Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...
. He served as the first dean of the Shepherd School of Music
Shepherd School of Music
The Shepherd School of Music is a university school of music located on the campus of Rice University in Houston, Texas. Shepherd School is itself very selective, accepting overall about 10-15% of all graduate applicants and 15% of all undergraduate applicants...
at Rice University
Rice University
William Marsh Rice University, commonly referred to as Rice University or Rice, is a private research university located on a heavily wooded campus in Houston, Texas, United States...
, building its faculty and facilities over six years as dean. Jones continued to serve as professor of composition and conducting after stepping down as dean, while serving as director of graduate studies. Jones influenced a number of conductors and composers through his work as a teacher at Rice and in workshops of the Conductors Guild
Conductors Guild
The Conductors Guild is an non-union organization intended for professional conductors based in the USA. The Guild offers services to enhance the training and development of conductors and promises to represent the views of conductors to the larger community of music professionals.The Conductors...
and League of American Orchestras
League of American Orchestras
The League of American Orchestras, known until Fall 2007 as the American Symphony Orchestra League , is an association of U.S. and Canadian orchestras. Over 950 orchestras are members, including youth, community, and professional orchestras....
. His students include a number of accomplished composers and conductors, including Gabriela Lena Frank
Gabriela Lena Frank
Gabriela Lena Frank is an American composer of contemporary classical music and pianist.- Biography :...
, Larry Rachleff and Andrew Levin.
In 1997 Jones was appointed Composer in Residence at the Seattle Symphony
Seattle Symphony
The Seattle Symphony is an American orchestra based in Seattle, Washington. Since 1998, the orchestra is resident at Benaroya Hall. The orchestra's season runs from September through July, and serves as the pit orchestra for most productions of the Seattle Opera in addition to its own concerts...
. He retired from full-time academic life after 24 years at Rice to relocate to the Pacific Northwest and dedicate more of his attention to composition.
Samuel Jones's compositions include an oratorio and three symphonies as well as shorter orchestral works, works for chorus and orchestra, opera, chamber music and works for children. His music has been performed by the Philadelphia Orchestra
Philadelphia Orchestra
The Philadelphia Orchestra is a symphony orchestra based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in the United States. One of the "Big Five" American orchestras, it was founded in 1900...
, the Seattle Symphony
Seattle Symphony
The Seattle Symphony is an American orchestra based in Seattle, Washington. Since 1998, the orchestra is resident at Benaroya Hall. The orchestra's season runs from September through July, and serves as the pit orchestra for most productions of the Seattle Opera in addition to its own concerts...
, the Detroit Symphony, the Utah Symphony, the Houston Symphony, the Cincinnati Symphony, the Rochester Philharmonic, the Louisville Orchestra
Louisville Orchestra
The Louisville Orchestra is the primary orchestra in Louisville, Kentucky and has been called the cornerstone of the Louisville arts scene. It was founded in 1937 by Robert Whitney and Charles Farnsley, Mayor of Louisville...
, the New Orleans Philharmonic and many others. His music is published by Carl Fischer and Campanile Music Press and is recorded by Naxos, CRI, Gasparo, ACA, and Centennial Records.
Jones’s work as a conductor includes serving as conductor of the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra
Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra
The Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra is an American orchestra based in the city of Rochester, Monroe County, New York. Its primary concert venue is the Eastman Theatre at the Eastman School of Music....
and Saginaw Symphony Orchestra. He has been engaged as a guest conductor by the Detroit Symphony Orchestra
Detroit Symphony Orchestra
The Detroit Symphony Orchestra is an American orchestra based in Detroit, Michigan. Its main performance center is Orchestra Hall at the Max M. Fisher Music Center in Detroit's Midtown neighborhood...
, the Houston Symphony Orchestra
Houston Symphony Orchestra
The Houston Symphony is an American orchestra based in Houston, Texas. Since 1966, it has performed at the Jesse H. Jones Hall for the Performing Arts in downtown Houston....
, the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra
Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra
The Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra is an American orchestra based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The orchestra's home is Heinz Hall, located in Pittsburgh's Cultural District.-History:...
, the Buffalo Philharmonic, the Prague Symphony Orchestra
Prague Symphony Orchestra
The Prague Symphony Orchestra was founded in 1934 by Rudolf Pekárek. In the 1930s the orchestra performed the scores for many Czech films, and also appeared regularly on Czech radio. An early promoter of the orchestra was Dr...
, and the Iceland Symphony Orchestra. Early in his career he founded the Alma Symphony and the Delta College Summer Festival of Music in Michigan. He serves as music advisor to the Flint Symphony Orchestra in Michigan
Michigan
Michigan is a U.S. state located in the Great Lakes Region of the United States of America. The name Michigan is the French form of the Ojibwa word mishigamaa, meaning "large water" or "large lake"....
.
Samuel Jones has served as president of the Conductors Guild
Conductors Guild
The Conductors Guild is an non-union organization intended for professional conductors based in the USA. The Guild offers services to enhance the training and development of conductors and promises to represent the views of conductors to the larger community of music professionals.The Conductors...
and received numerous awards and prizes. These include a Ford Foundation
Ford Foundation
The Ford Foundation is a private foundation incorporated in Michigan and based in New York City created to fund programs that were chartered in 1936 by Edsel Ford and Henry Ford....
Recording/Publication Award, grants from Martha Baird Rockefeller Foundation and National Endowment for the Arts
National Endowment for the Arts
The National Endowment for the Arts is an independent agency of the United States federal government that offers support and funding for projects exhibiting artistic excellence. It was created by an act of the U.S. Congress in 1965 as an independent agency of the federal government. Its current...
grants, ASCAP awards, an International Angel Award, three Music Awards from the Mississippi Institute of Arts and Letters
Mississippi Institute of Arts and Letters
The Mississippi Institute of Arts and Letters is a privately funded foundation created to recognize annually the greatest accomplishments in art, music, literature, and photography among Mississippians. The idea was conceived by, among others, former Mississippi Governor William Winter, Dr. Cora...
, and the Seattle Symphony's 2002 Artistic Recognition Award for outstanding service to the orchestra. Millsaps College awarded him an honorary doctorate in May 2000. The same year he was inducted into the inaugural class of the Mississippi Musicians Hall of Fame
Mississippi Musicians Hall of Fame
Mississippi Musicians Hall of Fame located in Clinton, Mississippi, honors it's native sons who carried the state's celebrated music heritage. It's a "who's who" of the blues, rock and roll, and jazz from their beginnings to present day.-Blues:...
. He was recently named the Music Alive Composer in Residence for the Meridian Symphony Orchestra by Meet The Composer
Meet the Composer
Meet the Composer is an American organization founded in 1974 by the composer John Duffy as a project of the New York State Council on the Arts. It seeks to assist composers in making a living through writing music by sponsoring commissioning, residency, education, and audience interaction...
and the League of American Orchestras
League of American Orchestras
The League of American Orchestras, known until Fall 2007 as the American Symphony Orchestra League , is an association of U.S. and Canadian orchestras. Over 950 orchestras are members, including youth, community, and professional orchestras....
.
Orchestral
- Aurum Aurorae
- Chaconne and Burlesque
- Chorale-Overture for Organ and Orchestra
- Elegy
- Fanfare and Celebration
- Festival Fanfare
- In Retrospect
- Janus
- Let Us Now Praise Famous Men
- Listen Now, My Children
- Overture for a City
- Roundings: Musings and Meditations on Texas New Deal Murals
- Three Suites From Roundings
- I: Hymn To The Earth
- II: Machines
- III: The Open Range
- Symphony No. 1
- Symphony No. 3 (Palo Duro Canyon)
- A Symphonic Requiem (Variations on a Theme of Howard Hanson)
Chorus and Orchestra
- Canticles of Time (Symphony No. 2)
- Eudora’s Fable: The Shoe Bird
- Gaudeo
- Reunion Benediction
- The Seas of God (Fanfare-Overture)
- The Trumpet of the Swan
Concerti
- Tuba Concerto
- Horn Concerto
- Concerto for Trombone and Orchestra
- Concerto for Violoncello and Orchestra
Solo and Chamber
- Four Haiku
- How Do I Love Thee?
- Piano Sonata
- Sonata for Cello and Piano
- Sonata for Unaccompanied Viola (In the Style of J.S. Bach)
- Spaces for Unaccompanied Cello & Narrator
- Two Movements for Harpsichord