Remembering Stephen Jones

ITG has learned of the passing of Stephen Jones, emeritus professor of trumpet at Western Michigan University and a former President of ITG.


Dr. Stephen Jones

Jones held positions with the Wichita Brass Quintet, Wichita Symphony, Kalamazoo Symphony, and appeared as a soloist with American Wind Symphony, Kalamazoo Symphony, and Santa Fe Chamber Symphony. Performances abroad include concerts in Sweden, Switzerland, Germany, The Netherlands, Great Britain, Russia, Korea, and People’s Republic of China.

His playing can be heard on the CRI, CRS, ASUC, MARK, CAPSTONE, DUBOIS, and ALAM recording labels. He has twice been elected president of the International Trumpet Guild, three times its secretary, and he has served on the ITG Board of Directors. He has been a frequent contributor to the International Trumpet Guild Journal.

Dr. Jones's full obituary can be found here: http://www.langelands.com/m/obituaries/Stephen-Jones-18/Memories

ITG Members have been sharing their memories of Dr. Jones, which you can find below:

Stephen Jones was one of the nicest people I have ever met through ITG. I'll never forget how he sent me a letter (out of the blue) to congratulate me on my "In Search of Hummel" article in the ITG Journal back in 2003. He even included a check for a small amount in the letter saying, "have a beer and pizza on me" –! This really floored me because he was a Past President of the ITG, we had never met previously, and he had gone out of his way to find my address at the college. At every conference I attended after that, he always sought me out to ask about my current projects and to encourage my research. He was always such a cheerful, inquisitive, and affirming presence. When he retired in 2014, he sent me his facsimile copy of the Altenburg treatise (in the old German Fraktur type), and at ITG 2015 in Columbus, he presented me with a draft copy of his wonderful book of descants. Just last summer he shared his microfilm copy of the Haydn concerto manuscript with me when I saw him at the conference in Hershey, PA. What a kind and generous man! I was just reading all of the tributes on Facebook this morning from his former students and colleagues and was not surprised to learn more about his legacy of impactful teaching, high standards, and selfless mentoring. He was truly a patron saint and guardian angel for trumpet players everywhere. I will sorely miss seeing him at future ITG conferences, but I’m deeply grateful for his inspirational enthusiasm for all things trumpet, as well as his profound kindness and generosity. We all stand in his shadow and should strive to follow his shining example. 

Elisa Koehler
Professor of Music, Goucher College (Baltimore, MD, USA)


Steve and I had a friendship that spans more than 35 years starting in 1981 when we were both elected officers in the ITG - Steve as Secretary, and me as Treasurer.  We had a strong working relationship during his 8 years as Secretary and subsequently during his terms as President and Past President.  During this time span the ITG showed tremendous growth, from about 1,500 to more than 8,000 members, and greatly expanded its membership outside the United States, making it a truly "international" organization.  During that time, the ITG's goals, projects, and procedures were greatly refined and re-defined do to, in a large part, to Steve's visionary input.  In my opinion there is not one individual who has made a greater contribution to shaping what the ITG is today than Steve Jones.

He was a fantastic trumpeter.  One performance which I'll never forget was at the 1979 ITG Festival of Trumpets concert, in which Steve and Don Bullock performed the Franceschini Sonata.  The ornamentation was brilliant!  I got a recording of the performance, transcribed the ornamentations and subsiquently used them every time I performed this piece.

Finally, my memories of Steve are how truly sincere and unpretentious he was.

Bryan Goff
Emertius Professor of Trumpet, Florida State University

The first donors to reach the Trustee level were Stephen and Linda Jones.  Steve had a long career as a trumpet professor at Western Michigan University, retiring in 2014.  In addition to serving on the ITG Board for 16 years, he served as ITG Secretary and two consecutive terms as ITG President.  An ITG Conference Host in 1987, he is a recipient of the ITG Award of Merit, and a founding member of ITG who has been active in nearly every aspect of its operations and conferences.

Kim Dunnick
Professor of Trumpet, Ithaca College

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