Join the UCLA Herb Alpert School of Music as we welcome pianist Ian Jones for the second installment of our 2024/25 David L. Abell Piano Master Series, a concert series which features renowned artists visiting UCLA to perform and work with our piano students.
About Ian Jones:
Ian Jones’ career as a Steinway Artist has taken him to all five continents. Appearances with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra and National Symphony Orchestra at London’s Royal Festival Hall and Barbican Hall include critically acclaimed performances of Rachmaninov’s Second and Third Piano Concertos and Paganini Rhapsody as well as concertos by Beethoven, Tchaikovsky, Grieg and Schumann. He has appeared in Paris and throughout France as concerto soloist with the Ensemble International and has performed many of Mozart’s piano concertos in Europe and USA.
A prizewinner at the Leeds International Piano Competition, he also won many prizes, including the prestigious Chappell Medal, whilst a student at RCM. Other awards include the Vlado Perlemuter Piano Prize and a special scholarship from the French government inviting him to spend a year in Paris. His teachers included Maria Curcio, Gyorgy Sebok, Phyllis Sellick, Jerome Lowenthal and Alain Planès.
Ian Jones is much sought-after as a teacher and his students have enjoyed international success. He is Artistic Director of the World Piano Teachers Association International Piano Competition and often serves on the juries of other international piano competitions. He frequently examines and adjudicates at other leading conservatoires, including the Royal Academy of Music in London and regularly performs and conducts international masterclasses, most recently in China, USA, Serbia, Japan, Ireland, Greece, Italy and Russia and at conservatoires such as Sweden’s Royal College of Music and many keyboard faculties in USA.
Ian Jones was made a Fellow of the Royal College of Music in 2014, an honour conferred on him by HRH Prince Charles.
He was piano coach, music advisor and composer/performer on the Oscar-nominated film Hilary and Jackie and has also written and performed music for France’s two national theatres in Paris and Strasbourg.
This event is made possible thanks to a gift from Barbara Abell who established The David L. Abell Piano Masters Series in honor of her late husband. Pianos were a passion for David, the owner of David L. Abell's Fine Pianos in Los Angeles, which became a hot-spot for musical legends such as Frank Sinatra, Stevie Wonder, Andre Previn, George Shearing, Bob Hope, Tony Bennett, and Benny Carter. We are proud to celebrate this program as part of the 2024/25 David L. Abell Piano Master Series.