BIOGRAPHY
Diane Jones' music has been performed by Mélomanie, The Relâche Ensemble, The Da Capo Chamber Players, Trio Casals, and Flautet. Diane's music reflects her rich, eclectic influences and her love of line and rhythm. She has been commissioned by the Auburn Symphony Orchestra, the Syracuse City Ballet, Mélomanie, the Matilda Joslyn Gage Foundation, and the Syracuse International Film Festival. She is featured as both composer and performer on four Samba Laranja CDs, three of which (Native Orange in 2011, Pathways in 2015, and Guaraná in 2019) have won SAMMY awards. Her four piano trios were recorded by Trio Casals for their "MOTO" series of CDs, and have been broadcast throughout the US and internationally. "Dreamcatcher" for trombone and orchestra, is included on "Neue Kraft Fulend," a CD from trombonist Haim Avitsur and conductor Ovidiu Marinescu. She has released “Soul Dance,” featuring Ovidiu Marinescu on cello and the London Symphony Orchestra (2023), and "Inner Light" featuring pianist Anna Kislitsyna and the Royal Scottish National Orchestra (2025), both conducted by Miran Vaupotić.
Jones has completed five residencies in Syracuse area middle schools, providing students the opportunity to experience and influence the composition process, along with the excitement of presenting a world premiere. She has collaborated with choreographers Cheryl Wilkins-Mitchell, Christina D'Amico, Dominique Dawkins, and Sarah Walter for six Vision of Sound festivals of music and dance, and with filmmaker and director Ryan Silveira for both live and recorded projects.
After 17 years on the air in Central New York, Diane is now the mid-day host on WHRO-FM in Norfolk, VA. She continues to host and produce Feminine Fusion, a nationally-syndicated weekly program highlighting women in the classical music world, recognized for it's contribution to the arts by the National Endowment for the Arts. She recently launched a new podcast, Meet Me Backstage, highlighting artists and arts organizers.
A recipient of the Billy Joel Fellowship, a fellowship with the Chamber Music Institute at the University of Nebraska - Lincoln, and awarded the prestigious Grace F. and Theodore Berger Award from the University of Delaware, Diane has also been inducted into Pi Kappa Lambda, the music honor society. Active as a performer as well as a composer, Diane has performed with Samba Laranja, played contrabass flute with the Central New York Flute Choir, and was a core member of the 315 Ensemble. She has played flute and piccolo in regional orchestras, and was one half of the flute duo, Flutes of Fancy.
Diane is privileged to have studied with outstanding composers Daniel S. Godfrey, Nicolas Scherzinger, and Jennifer Margaret Barker.