JOSEPH JONES began studying the bassoon at age 12 when his piano teacher suggested: "Joey, you might be good at the bassoon." Several years and many concerts later Joe has performed with ensembles across the country and is a graduate of the historical performance program at The Juilliard School. As a member of Juilliard 415 he performed under the direction of Masaki Suzuki, Stephen Stubbs, Nicholas McGegan, Rachel Podger, William Christie, Robert Mealy, and Monica Huggett, and took an exciting program of both eighteenth and twenty-first century music on tour in India.
Joe’s playing has been praised for its "warm singing tone," and once while performing a Vivaldi concerto he "proved he could easily break the four-minute mile without missing a note" (Star Tribune). Ensembles he has worked with include The English Concert, New York Baroque Incorporated, TENET, ACRONYM, Boston Early Music Festival, Early Music New York, American Bach Soloists, the Bermuda Philharmonic, Lyra Baroque Orchestra, and Les Arts Florissants at the festival Dans les Jardins de William Christie in Thiré, France. He has appeared as a soloist with Lyra Baroque Orchestra and Juilliard 415.
Before moving to New York Joe 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 McKnight Foundation “Next Step” grant which helped him purchase his first baroque bassoon, beginning his adventures in historical performance practice. He is also an alumnus of the University of Minnesota and Utah State University. Among his academic honors Joe has been a Morse Teaching Fellow at Juilliard, teaching music appreciation lessons to New York public school students. He was a Berneking Fellow at the University of Minnesota, and as an undergraduate he performed as a concerto soloist three times. His principal bassoon teachers have been Dominic Teresi, John W. Miller, Norbert Nielubowski, and Dennis Hirst.
Joseph Jones is an American Fellow of The English Concert, elected in 2018. Supported by The English Concert in America (TECA), the Fellowship provides performance and professional development opportunities to emerging artists in the field of historical performance.