Faculty and Staff

Assistant Professor of Music

Ph.D., Brandeis University
M.F.A., Brandeis University
B.A., University of Richmond

Academic Areas: music history, music theory, jazz history.

Dr. Ryan P. Jones
123 Haas Fine Arts Center
Music & Theatre Arts Department
University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire
Eau Claire, WI 54702-4004

Phone: 715/836-4947
Email: jonesrp@uwec.edu

Ryan Jones is assistant professor of music in the Department of Music and Theatre Arts at UW-Eau Claire where he teaches courses in music history and theory. He received a B.A. in English from the University of Richmond and holds both a Ph.D. and an M.F.A. in Musicology from Brandeis University. Before joining the UW-Eau Claire faculty, Dr. Jones taught at Brandeis, the Walnut Hill School, and Gettysburg College.

Dr. Jones's areas of musicological interest range from symphonic and operatic histories to American art music and jazz. His dissertation presented the first extensive study of Aaron Copland's only full-length opera, The Tender Land (1954), outlining the composer's message through the work's context, sources, libretto, and score. This analysis explores the potential Copland's final populist work holds both for understanding his aesthetic values and locating their place within American music history. Dr. Jones's research has also traced the educational arc of Julian "Cannonball" Adderley’s early training and career in music (Current Musicology 2005) and investigated issues of authenticity in George Gershwin’s Porgy and Bess. His recent article, “‘Free Swing’ and the Emergent Neophonic: Forging Progressive Jazz with Stan Kenton in the 1947 Dance Hall” (Jazz Research Journal 2008), examines the challenges of Kenton’s early Artistry in Rhythm Orchestra as its leader eschewed dance music from the receding swing era and embraced concert presentations of jazz. Additional projects concern the life and music of singer Jo Stafford, social activism in the music of Stevie Wonder, the inventive approaches of Sun Ra, and the teaching impact of Nadia Boulanger upon American art music composers of the last century. Dr. Jones has shared his work at meetings of the American Musicological Society, the Leeds International Jazz Conference, the Mid-Atlantic Writing Centers Association, Northeastern University, and Brandeis University.