Alexandra Jones

Chamber Music

Hello! I am a cello and chamber music teacher at Opus Ithaca, as well as the Operations Manager. I recently moved to Ithaca and am enjoying the vibrancy of this creative and musical community. Before Ithaca, I lived and worked in Brussels for three years after leaving my ‘musical home’ of New York City. My previous faculty teaching positions were at the International School of Brussels, the United Nations International School, and Brooklyn Conservatory.

As an independent performing and recording cellist, I have the privilege to work across genres with ensembles and musicians of many traditions. I’ve performed and recorded in numerous contemporary classical ensembles and orchestras (Antwerp Philharmonic, Ensemble X, Cayuga Chamber Orchestra, Bridgeport Symphony, American Modern Ensemble, Tenth Intervention); with jazz, popular, indie, and folk artists (Ron Carter, Gil Goldstein, Troye Sivan, the Eagles, Twin Sister, Cassandra Jenkins, Landlady); and in musical theater, television, and film productions (Moulin Rouge: The Musical, Mozart in the Jungle).

My music education began in Minnesota, where I learned to play cello through a string program run by the local high school orchestra and guitar teacher, Grant Wilcox. It was expected (and needed) for older students to teach younger students. This is how the program was built and the result, after many years, was a strong system of student-teachers, a high level high school string orchestra, and an extraordinary number of young string players in one small town. This is where I first learned to play the cello and teach. Inspiring community based music programs are blooming all over the world— it is an exciting time to teach and learn together!

I studied cello (BM) at New York University with Marion Feldman, and at SUNY Purchase with Julia Lichten (MM). I am currently a Master’s student at Leuphana University (Lüneburg, Germany) in Arts and Cultural Management. I completed my Suzuki Teacher Training (through book 8) in 2017 with Pamela Devenport at School for Strings in New York City.