Pianist/Conductor
Associate Professor of Music
Martin David Jones is currently Associate Professor of Music. He teaches piano, theory, conducting, and humanities.
Martin David Jones, pianist, has been a featured performer in recital and with orchestra throughout the United States. His appearances at major musical centers include Lincoln Center in New York, Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., the Dame Myra Hess Recital Series in Chicago, Piccolo Spoleto in Charleston, South Carolina, and Gindi Auditorium in Los Angeles. Dr. Jones has performed extensively in Washington, D.C. including solo recitals at the National Gallery of Art and the Phillips Collection. Dr. Jones has been soloist with the Augusta Symphony, the Central Wisconsin Symphony Orchestra, the La Crosse Symphony, the Columbia Orchestra of Maryland, the Gwinnett Philharmonic Orchestra, the Frederick Symphony Orchestra, the Greater Augusta Youth Orchestra, the Augusta State University Wind Ensemble, and the Augusta State University Orchestra. Other performances and engagements include the Bowdoin Summer Music Festival, the Schubert Club in Minneapolis, and the Elvehjem Museum in Madison. His compact disc, the Piano Music of André Previn, was recently released on the Centaur Records label. This season Dr. Jones will perform the Beethoven Choral Fantasy and Liszt’s Totentanz with the Augusta State University Orchestra, and he will be soloist the Ludwig Orchestra of Atlanta in Rachamaninoff’s Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini. He will also appear with pianist Clara Park in a program of contemporary two-piano music on the “1900+ Series” at the University of Georgia at Athens.
Dr. Jones has received critical acclaim for his concerts. The Indianapolis News described him as having "absolutely knocked the socks off Balakirev's `Islamey' widely considered one of the most difficult works ever written for the piano." And the Washington Post called his “technique meticulous, his musicianship powerful and his inclinations poetic.”
Competitive recognition has been equally enthusiastic. Dr. Jones has been the recipient of the Yamaha prize at the Frinna Awerbuch International Piano Competition, and Finalist at the American Pianists Association Beethoven Fellowship Competition. Dr. Jones' concerts have shown a commitment to music of our time. Included among his contemporary music performances are the world premieres of The Prayer of St. Francis by Libby Larsen, Largo for Solo Piano by Michael Nathaniel Hersch, and the Washington premiere of China Gates by John Adams. Active as a conductor Dr. Jones has directed performances of the Magic Flute, Amahl and the Night Visitors, Orpheus in the Underworld, and Messiah. He is also the conductor of the Greater Augusta Youth Orchestra.
Dr. Jones is a member of Trio Augusta (with faculty members Dr. Angela Morgan and Dr. Christine Crookall). This ensemble was featured at the 2003 Georgia Music Educators Association Conference in Savannah, where they performed a trio of Johannes Brahms and the world premiere of Jones’ Suspended Journey for Piano Trio.
Dr. Jones’ article entitled the “Piano Music of Andre Previn” appeared in the fall issue of the Georgia Music Educators Association magazine.
Dr. Jones graduated summa cum laude with a Bachelor of Music degree from California State University, Northridge. He also has Master and Doctoral degrees in piano performance from the Peabody Conservatory of Music, where he held assistantships in theory and accompanying. His teachers include Julian Martin, Charles Fierro, Paul Schenly, and Earle Voorhies.
