Dr. Brett Jones

Most recent degrees:

2004 - Doctor of Musical Arts - Percussion Performance - Texas Tech University

Academic background:

A native of South Dakota, Dr. Brett Jones serves as Professor of Percussion and Chair of the Music Department at the University of Wisconsin-Superior. He holds a degree in music education from the University of Colorado as well as a master’s degree and doctorate in percussion performance from Texas Tech University. His primary teachers include Alan Shinn, Lisa Rogers, Doug Walter, Don N. Parker, John R. Beck, and Gene Holter.  

Jones has previously served on the music faculty of Texas Tech University and Blinn College. His performance experience includes a role as the principal percussionist of the Brazos Valley Symphony Orchestra. He regularly performs with the Duluth Superior Symphony Orchestra and has served as a section percussionist for the Black Hills Symphony Orchestra, and the Lubbock Symphony Orchestra. Jones directs the DSSYO Percussion Ensemble in Duluth, MN, performs regularly with the Sky-Blue Jazz Quartet and in chamber music settings in northern Wisconsin and Minnesota.

Jones has been a featured presenter at the National Conference on Percussion Pedagogy, the Wisconsin Chapter of the Percussive Arts Society's Day of Percussion, and the Texas Music Educators Association Convention.  His publications include articles in Percussive Notes, The Instrumentalist, and School Band and Orchestra Magazine. C. Alan Publications, HoneyRock Publications, and HaMaR Percussion Publications publish his compositions and arrangements. Jones endorses Encore mallets, Silverfox drumsticks, and Grover Pro Percussion products.  

Known as the foremost expert on Robert Kreutz's marimba music, Jones’ doctoral research culminated in a paper entitled The Marimba Music of Robert E. Kreutz: A Stylistic Study of the Choral Influences in his Compositions for Marimba, published in the Percussive Arts Society's Online Research Journal. He is the editor of the republication of a series of Kreutz’s marimba works through HoneyRock Publishing.  In 2017, Jones released a 2-CD collection of Kreutz’s marimba music entitled “Western Sketches,” which is available through HoneyRock Publishing. Jones lives in northern Wisconsin with his wife, Meghan and their seven children.

Sample Recordings:

• Caprice V (3.2 MB)
• November Evening (4.4 MB)
• Theme with Six Variations (Var. III) (1.8 MB)
• Fall River (5.3 MB)
• To the gods of rhythm (4.1 MB)
• Bossa Nova USA (5.2 MB)

Sample Video:

• Klezmer Medley
• Cedars of Lebanon