David Evan Jones

David Evan Jones (born 1946) is an American pianist and composer of chamber music, chamber music, computer music, and opera.

Jones was a student of Roger Reynolds and Pauline Oliveros at the University of California San Diego. After serving a year (1980-81) as Composer-in-Residence at York University (England), he joined the faculty at Dartmouth College before becoming professor of music at the University of California Santa Cruz.  Jones has composed in residence at IRCAM in Paris, EMS in Stockholm, and at Bregman Electronic Music Studio at Dartmouth College where he co-founded, with Jon Appleton, the Dartmouth graduate program in Electro-Acoustic Music.

Jones has created several pieces exploring aspects of “speech as music”.  These include works such as Pashanti—The Nine Billion Names of God, Scritto, and Still Life in Wood and Metal, Still Life Dancing (all available via youtube.com), and the five pieces comprising his Centaur Records CRC3500 CD entitled News from Afar.  Jones has written the librettos and composed the music for two chamber operas.  Bardos, the most prominent of these, had its professional premier in Hoam Hall, Seoul, Korea in 2004.

Jones also composes for Korean instruments. Most notably his Dreams of Falling, composed for the Creative Orchestra of the Korean National Gugak Center, received more than a half dozen performances in the United States and Seoul over the course of the years 2016-2019. 

· Fast & Odd: Neo-Balkan Jazz and Concert Music. Centaur CRC2655

· From Sofia to Seoul.  New Chamber Music Composed & Directed by David Evan Jones.  Centaur CRC3006

· News from Afar. For chamber ensembles with news broadcasts transformed.  Centaur CRC3500

Additional individual compositions are available on compact disks from Centaur Records, Wergo Records, Contemporary Recording Studios, Musical Heritage Society, and Capstone Records. Scores to most of his works are available from the American Composers Alliance (ACA).

Selected JournalArticles:

· Jones, David Evan. "Compositional Control of Phonetic/Nonphonetic Perception," Perspectives of New Music, Vol. 25:1 & 2, pp. 138-155 (winter, summer 1987)

· Jones, David Evan. "Speech Extrapolated," Perspectives of New Music, Volume 28:1, pp. 112-142 (winter 1990)

· Jones, David Evan. "A Computational Composer’s Assistant for Atonal Counterpoint," Computer Music Journal, M.I.T Press, winter 2001, pp. 33-43

Jones’ compositions have been honored by first prize awards in the Premio Ancona International Composition Competition (Italy), the national competition of the American New Music Consortium, and the MACRO International Composition Competition.  His work has also received Honorable Mentions from Prix Ars Electronica (Austria), the Bourges Electro-Acoustic Music Competition (France), and the National Opera Association.