Two roads diverged in a yellow wood, and Alan Jones took the one less traveled by.
As a Masters student at the Eastman School of Music, the singer and pianist was on the path to becoming a composer when his innovative work as a church musician caught the attention of professors.
Alan is a natural teacher, and he was persuaded to pursue a life as an educator.
Lucky music students at Spencerport High School blossomed under his direction for thirty-two years.
Since retiring a few years ago, Alan has continued to invest in education as a NYSSMA adjudicator and a collaborator in performances all over the United States, celebrating America’s music with singer Cindy Miller and WXXI’s Michael Lasser.
“I’ve always thought of music as a pathway to the soul,” he says, “and it’s not just an educational thing. It’s a physical thing. I think the kids understand that as well because the act of singing in a choir or playing in a band with other people brings them together like nothing else they’ve experienced.”
And that has made all the difference.
Watch Alan Jones and his colleagues perform at the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum in Washington, D.C.
