Esther T. Jones - Composer, Flutist, Pianist

I always have so much fun at band rehearsals! The marimba is one of my favourite percussion instruments to play.

Its size presents a challenge - sometimes I find myself using two stands and double copies of the music when switching between registers, and sometimes I just pick up the stand and move it back and forth during performance to reach the top and bottom notes and still be able to read the music! Then there's the hurdle of playing with four mallets at a time - tricky, but fun!

I adore how warm and…

This video was shot about a month ago (by my wonderful mother) during the McDaniel Summer Flute Choir Annual Concert.

Under the leadership of Dr. Linda Kirkpatrick we premiered a piece I wrote in 2018 based on a delightful little Bach keyboard piece I've absolutely fallen in love with. I was blessed to have such a wonderful group of people to play with, including world renowned flute choir composer Jonathan Cohen, and also to have the impeccable guidance of Garth Baxter-Composer when I was working on…

Today's blog post is all about how to clean and put away the alto flute. In both the video posted above and the article below, I walk you through taking the instrument apart and cleaning it.

The alto flute is a large instrument, with a beautiful, mellow sound, and care must be taken when handling it to ensure that no damage occurs to this member of the flute family. (The method for cleaning bass flutes and other flutes with curved headjoints is much the same.)

First we want to gently pick up the…

This past weekend I had the pleasure of returning to the 14th Annual Flutes on the Brink Flute Choir Festival with the McDaniel College Flute Choir. Each choir took turns performing, and we all joined together to form one sizeable flute choir for the grande finale, playing selections from Gareth McLearnon, Jonathan Cohen - the latter of whom is a member of the Flutes on the Brink flute choir - and various other composers and arrangers.

Every time that I've attended the festival has been wonderful, and I…

Just in time for the holidays, I've recorded two lovely Christmas carols, the first, "In the Bleak Midwinter," a 19th century carol penned by English poet Christina Rossetti and set to music multiple times. The second is "Carol of the Blues," a jazzy improvisation on "Carol of The Bells." Both pieces are performed on piano.

Greetings! I've just recently stumbled across a great TED Talks video that is definitely worth sharing! It's short, fun, and engaging, and I hope you all enjoy it as much as I did.

And here is a quick video of a Bach menuet I've fallen in love with recently

A lovely time was had by all on August 21^st, at the senior recital of
Cara Sanneman, held at McDaniel College. All the weeks of practicing and rehearsing culminated in a polished and confident performance, and in the end, I think fun and excitement completely outstripped the nerves from the very first note to the last.

(Cara, Mrs. Rachel Andrews and I performed the Trio Sonata in C Minor by J. J. Quantz, all four movements.)

The event was made even more special because of the solar eclipse that occurred just…

What better way to enjoy summer than to listen to some lovely music while reading a good book? This past spring I again had the pleasure of playing with the McDaniel Flute Choir as well as the McDaniel Concert Band, and really got the chance to challenge myself on a variety of interesting and rewarding pieces.

Below follow a couple of selections presented by the flute choir; the first piece (on which I play C flute) was written by Jonathan Cohen, who graciously agreed to perform with us on the concert.

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A few weekends ago, I had the pleasure of

performing with the McDaniel Flute Choir at the 11th Annual Flutes on the Brink Festival.

The food was tasty, the people were wonderful, and the musical selections were delightful. Some pieces featured low flutes, others, the piccolo, although every work wove a gorgeous tapestry of sound around the individual choirs.

Each choir took turns performing, and for the grande finale, we all joined together to form one quite sizeable flute choir, playing…