Jonathan Jones
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Jonathan Jones, or jonjonEZ, is known as, “a passionate and virtuosic musician, responsible for all-out playing,” (The Dallas Morning News, Cantrell). A Dallas native, Jones grew up in Duncanville, Texas, where he studied clarinet under Ricky Reeves and Verda and Tom Shine. He then received a full scholarship to èƵapp to study clarinet and music education under Paul Garner of the Dallas Symphony Orchestra. Jones currently directs the Meadows World Music Ensemble at èƵapp, plays as Principal Clarinet for the Dallas Chamber Symphony and plays regularly with the Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra and other surrounding groups in DFW. He also served as principal clarinetist of the Las Colinas Symphony Orchestra for 13 years.
An accomplished competitor, Jones has won a plethora of competitions, including the Prestigious Gold Medal from the President of Italy and the Grand Prize at the International Music Competition “Citta di Valentino,” in Castellaneta, Italy. Stateside, in Colorado, Jones was the first clarinetist ever in 52 years to win the Grand Prize at the Fort Collins Symphony International Artist Competition.
An innovative clarinet soloist, Jones made his mark being featured as Orpheus in Ricky Ian Gordon’s stage work Orpheus and Euridice. As a complete performer, playing 70 minutes from memory while acting and even dancing, Jones has been featured on stage at Fort Worth Opera, Birmingham Opera, Dallas Voices of Change, Santa Fe New Music and the European Premiere in Italy.
A classically trained virtuoso with a wide musical taste, Jones has found a niche applying his limitless technique and malleable tone to any genre with creative improvisation solos where his ultimate musicianship is expressed. He has toured the globe playing all kinds of music on clarinet and a variety of other specialty instruments like the Sumatran saranaui, Chinese hulusi and the slide didgeridoo. Jones has performed at prominent world music festivals in China, Sumatra, Bali and Java, as well as multiple appearances in Italy such as the “Matese Friend Festival” and the “Jazz in Campo Festival” in Molise. In 2018, he was featured as a soloist with the Taipei Chinese Orchestra in Taiwan. He has performed with artists such as The Who, Peter Gabriel, Idina Menzel, Balawan, Mohsen Namjoo, Mike Block, Poovalur Sriji and Ehsan Matoori.
He does not stop there, as jonjonEZ is an avid music producer, composer and DJ. He has made appearances throughout the states, as well as Sumatra and Italy, showcasing his ability to DJ while playing clarinet, sax or his Electronic Wind Instrument. His current work also includes “APOLLOS FLIGHT,” Electronic Instrument/DJ Duo with Marek Eneti and “DRUM N WIND,” Electro/Acoustic duo with Jamal Mohamed.
Jonathan Jones is a Yamaha Performing Artist.
