Joyce Jones Will Play at the Meyerson in Dallas

by Richard Veit

Dr. Joyce Jones, Organist-in-Residence and the Joyce Oliver Bowden Professor of Music at Baylor University, will play the famed Fisk organ at the Meyerson Symphony Center in Dallas at
8 p.m. Thursday. The solo concert, jointly sponsored by the Dallas Symphony Orchestra and the American Guild of Organists, will include many of Jones' signature pieces, including Liszt's monumental Fantasy and Fugue on "Ad nos," Sowerby's pedal showpiece "Pageant," and works by Mozart, Bach, Dupré and Widor.
Jones is no stranger to playing in large concert halls, having played at venues such as the San Francisco Symphony's Davies Symphony Hall and New York's Carnegie Hall. In 1984, she was the only woman chosen to perform on the live telecast concert inaugurating the new Ruffatti with the San Francisco Symphony and was so well received that she has since returned to play four additional concerts there.
Concerts in 1998 included performances in Japan, Canada and Italy, as well as throughout the U.S. In August, she received the highest honor given by Mu Phi Epsilon professional music sorority, the Award of Merit, as only the eighth recipient of that prestigious distinction in 95 years. She is also the recipient of the National Citation, the highest award given by the National Federation of Music Clubs.
"It is such fun to be playing in a prestigious concert hall in Texas, since all my organ students will be able to attend," said Jones. "When I've played at Notre Dame in Paris or in New York or San Francisco, it has been too far for anyone from home to be there. I'm looking forward to the concert, especially since it is the 100th anniversary season of the Dallas Symphony Orchestra."
Tickets are available by calling (214) 692-0203 or at the Meyerson box office on the night of the performance.