Joseph Jones (bassoon) was selected as an American fellow in 2018.
Jones began studying the bassoon at age twelve, when his piano teacher suggested, “Joey, you might be good at the bassoon.” Several years and many concerts later Jones has performed with ensembles across the U.S. He is a recent graduate of the Historical Performance program at the Juilliard School. As a member of Juilliard415 he performed under the direction of Masaki Suzuki, Stephen Stubbs, Nicholas McGegan, Rachel Podger, William Christie, Robert Mealy, and Monica Huggett, and participated in an exciting program of both eighteenth- and twenty-first-century music on tour in India.
Among the ensembles he has worked with are American Bach Soloists, Early Music New York, the Bach Society of Charleston, Flying Forms, Bermuda Philharmonic, Merce Cunningham Dance Company, and Oratory Sacred Bach. He has appeared as a soloist with Lyra Baroque Orchestra and Juilliard415. Jones has been praised for his “warm singing tone” and a performance that “proved he could easily break the four-minute mile without missing a note.” (Star Tribune)
Before moving to New York, Jones lived in Minneapolis, where he was principal bassoonist for the Minnesota Sinfonia and conductor of the 100-year-old St. Paul Postal Band. In 2013 he was awarded a grant from the Next Step Fund, supported by The McKnight Foundation, which helped him purchase his first baroque bassoon, thus beginning his adventures in historical performance practice. He is an alumnus of the University of Minnesota and Utah State University. His academic honors include appointments as a Berneking Fellow at the University of Minnesota and a Morse Teaching Fellow at Juilliard, teaching music appreciation lessons to New York public school students. His principal bassoon teachers have been Dominic Teresi, John W. Miller, Norbert Nielubowski, and Dennis Hirst.