Background Information
Jason D. Jones grew up in the foothills of the Great Smokey Mountains of Tennessee. His love for the transmission of music stems from his upbringing of blue grass music and rural hymns in the community of Ottway. At an early age, he experienced music education in the traditional Appalachian ways--storytelling, front porch and community singing, and rote. In high school, he experienced the joy of choral music, earning top spots in All-East Tennessee and All-state.
As a first generation college student at Emory & Henry College, he began his college journey as chemistry major. Instead, he enrolled in music courses. Here, he studied under Stephen Sieck, well-known conductor and author of "Teaching with Respect: An Inclusive Choral Pedagogy." He graduated from Emory & Henry with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Vocal Music Education and French and a Master's of Music Education. His honor's thesis was titled, "Reading Between the Staff: A Queerology Approach to the Works of Aaron Copland."
After graduating from E&H, he was accepted into the prestigious Teach For America program and moved to San Antonio, TX. Here, he served as an elementary general and string teacher at Highland Hills Elementary School (HHES) in San Antonio ISD. At HHES, Jones grew the chorus program from 0 to 90 students, including four choirs: 3rd/4th grade choir, 5th grade choir, Bilingual student choir, and a faculty/staff choir. Jones also restarted the district elementary strings program after a 30 year absence. He did this by receiving over $110,000 in grants to supply instruments, supplies, instructional materials, and professional development. The program grew from 5 students at one school to 200+ students at seven schools. Jones was also a girl's volleyball and basketball coach for HHES's feeder school.
While in San Antonio, he received a full-scholarship to earn a Master of Music with emphasis in music education degree from the University of Texas at San Antonio. Here he studied with David Frego, Kristin Pellegrino, and Susan Dill. His thesis was titled, "Elementary music teacher perception and instruction of subdivision: A mixed methods study." He also became an OAKE-certified Kodaly teacher and received extensive training in Dalcroze for the nation's leading expert in Eurhythmics, David Frego.
In 2017, Jones was accepted into the music education PhD program at The Eastman School of Music in Rochester, NY. He is currently a PhD candidate and will graduate in May 2022. At Eastman, Jones conducted the Treble Choir, instructed courses in elementary and choral methods, and supervised student teachers. In Rochester, he was also an elementary choir teacher at Plank Road South Elementary School.
Jones accepted the position of Assistant Professor of Music Education and Music Education Coordinator at Reinhardt University in Waleska, GA in Fall 2020.
