Scott Jones

The Concordia College Band, Instrumental Conducting, Instrumental Music Education

Scott A. Jones is an Assistant Professor of Music and Director of Bands at Concordia College in Moorhead, Minnesota. In addition to conducting the Concordia College Band, his teaching responsibilities include Instrumental Conducting and courses in Instrumental Music Education.

Prior to his appointment at Concordia College, Dr. Jones served as Director of Instrumental Music at Apple Valley High School (Apple Valley, Minnesota) from 1995 to 2005. In addition to the administration of the entire Instrumental Music Program there, Dr. Jones also served as Instrumental Music Coordinator for all 5-12 band programs on the west side of Independent School District 196. His teaching career began in the Teays Valley Schools (Ashville, Ohio) in the fall of 1989.

An ardent supporter of the "composers of today," Dr. Jones has nurtured the creation of 17 new compositions for wind band and chamber winds since 1999. Commissioned composers include David Gillingham (With Heart and Voice and A Parting Blessing), Augusta Read Thomas (Magneticfireflies), Libby Larsen (An Introduction to the Moon), Clark McAlister (Woodscapes and A Quilting Bee), Michael Weinstein (Serenade for 15 Instruments), Adam Gorb (French Dances Revisited), Daniel Kallman (An American Tapestry), Scott McAllister (Three Preludes), and as of yet untitled works by Timothy Mahr, Rolf Rudin, Lowell Liebermann, and Elliott Schwartz.

A firm believer in creating opportunities for students to interact with the great artists of our time, musicians under Jones' leadership have collaborated with artists Frederick Fennell, Eiji Oue, Aaron Jay Kernis, Frank Battisti, Seiji Ozawa, David Gillingham, Augusta Read Thomas, Eddie Daniels as well as a host of other distinguished musical figures.

A native of Fairfax, Virginia, Jones received his undergraduate degree in Music Education from The Ohio State University (Columbus, Ohio) in 1989 and a Master's Degree in Music Education from the Vander Cook College of Music (Chicago, Illinois) in 1995. In June of 2003, Jones completed a Ph.D. in Music from the University of Minnesota (Minneapolis, Minnesota).

Dr. Jones was named "Music Educator of the Year" by the Minnesota Music Educators Association in 2002, and is presently serving the Minnesota Band Directors Association as past-president. He was one of three school band conductors from the United States selected to participate in the 2004 National Band Association International Conducting Symposium in Rome, Italy.

His professional affiliations include MENC: The National Association for Music Education, Minnesota Music Educators Association, Minnesota Band Directors Association, College Band Directors National Association, the National Band Association, Chamber Music America, Phi Beta Mu, and the American Composers Forum.

This biograhy was drawn from the Concordia College website