About David
Head of Accompaniment – Tutor in piano accompaniment, Staff Pianist Co-ordinator and Staff Pianist
Tutor in Piano, Junior RNCM
Academic lecturer and supervisor
Dr David Jones was born on the Wirral and graduated from the University of Wales, Bangor, with a First Class Honours Degree in Music, specialising in performance and studying piano with Jana Frenklova. He subsequently graduated from the Royal Northern College of Music, Manchester, with a Postgraduate Diploma in Piano Accompaniment, which he studied with John Wilson, and the degree of Master of Music in Performance for which he also submitted a study of the songs of Albert Roussel. After a year as Junior Fellow in Repetiteur Studies in the RNCM Opera Department, David lectured for three years at University College, Salford. He joined the staff of the School of Keyboard Studies at the RNCM in 1996 and was appointed Accompaniment Co-ordinator, now Head of Accompaniment, in September 2001. He is a tutor in piano at Junior RNCM having held the posts of Deputy Director and Senior Accompanist there between 1998 and 2023. He was also chorus master of the RNCM Chamber Choir for four years. David has supervised three PhD students to successful completion on theses about French and British music of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries and is currently supervising two more PhD candidates.
Research
Current and Future Research
Dr David Jones completed his PhD on The Music of Jeffrey Lewis in 2011 at the University of Manchester, and as well as recordings of his piano and chamber music, (piano, vocal and chamber music – Metier/Divine Art, MSV28514, 2009; piano and chamber music – Campion, CAMEO2037, 2005; works for piano, clarinet and flute – ASC, CS CD43, 2001) and an article for Musical Times (Winter 2004, Vol 145, No 1889) David has completed editorial work for Cathedral Press on Lewis’s Sacred Chants (published 2013) together with video interviews with the composer for the Cathedral Press website: see http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9fJkMrzbnno and http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2viH00Aefpg
As well as the recordings of Lewis’s music, David has recently recorded three discs of music by Robin Stevens – Chasing Shadows (Metier/ Divine Art dda 25236, 2023), Music for Cello and Piano (Metier/ Divine Art, dda 25217, 2022) and Prevailing Winds (Metier/ Divine Art, dda 25194, 2020). Other recordings include Judith Bingham: Piano Music (Toccata Classics, TOCC01812013), Philip Spratley: Choral Music (Prima Facie, PFCD100, 2011), John Ramsden Williamson: Chamber Music (Dunelm, DRD0271, 2007), John Ramsden Williamson: Songs (Dunelm, DDV24153, 2007), Stephen Plews: Piano Music (Campion, CAMEO 2029, 2005).
David has also been involved in the preparation and recording of Blooms of Dublin by Anthony Burgess, a project timed to coincide with the centenary of the publication of James Joyce’s Ulysses in 2022. Further material will be recorded in the summer of 2024 and this will be preserved at the International Anthony Burgess Foundation in Manchester.
Research Areas
Currently engaged in preserving and archiving Jeffrey Lewis’s manuscripts and other papers.
Teaching
Undergraduate Teaching
Undergraduate elective on mélodie – The mélodie from Berlioz to Boulez.
Undergraduate elective on French opera in the 19th and 20th centuries.
Coaching in accompaniment (duo sonatas and song repertoire)
Postgraduate Teaching
Principal study Accompaniment tutor.
Coaching in accompaniment (duo sonatas and song repertoire)
Research Supervision
Current supervision of PhDs:
- Yangyi Mao
- Hwan Hee Kim
- Faith Thompson
- Qiqi Huang
- Lingrui Guo
Research Outputs
Practice Research/Compositions
Prayer for Peace
Jones, D. (Performer), Benedict, H. (Performer), Clarke, S. (Performer) & Bradbury, A. (Performer), 12 Dec 2025Robin Stevens: Obsession and Chasing Shadows (on Chasing Shadows)
Jones, D. (Performer), Mar 2023Robin Stevens: Music for cello and piano (Sonata Romantica, Three Character Pieces, A Birthday Trifle, On the Wild Side, Balmoral Suite, Three Epigrams, Say Yes to Life)
Jones, D. (Performer) & Trygstad, N. (Performer), Jan 2022Robin Stevens: Three Epigrams, A Soldier’s Prayer, An Uneasy Dialogue (on Prevailing Winds)
Jones, D. (Performer), Feb 2020Premiere performance of Robin Stevens: Six pieces for double bass and piano
Jones, D. (Performer), 2016Premiere performance of David Matthews: Bright Wings for double bass and piano
Jones, D. (Performer), 2015Premiere performance of Philip Wilby: Waltz for Ida for double bass and piano
Jones, D. (Performer), 2015Judith Bingham: Complete Piano Music
Jones, D. (Performer), 3 Jun 2013Premiere performance of Ben Parry: Songs for Girls of a Certain Age for mezzo and piano
Jones, D. (Performer), 2012Premiere performance of Jeffrey Lewis: Memoria Echoes for piano
Jones, D. (Performer), 2012Professional Activity
Professional Service
Cathedral Press, Bangor (Publisher)
Jones, D. (Editor)