Dr. Dena Kay Jones, the chair of the Piano Department at the University of Texas at El Paso, not to mention the pianist for the El Paso Symphony Orchestra, is one busy wife and mother. When she's not busy working to keep her home comfortable and warm for husband Gary and son Andrew, she's at the keyboard working and sharing her music.
The central Illinois native, now a resident of west El Paso, says that music is the passion that drives her, but insists that the birth of her child and her marriage are “the things I never doubt.”
That piano in the center of the living room is where Dena can get her practice time in, and where she and Andrew can bond. He has grown accustomed to the music and it draws him right in. On one crisp October morning, she went from playing “Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star,” with Andrew singing, to the music of Bach. It's all in a day's work for Dena.
She says music is the core of the household and it's been that way for a long time in her life. She began studying the piano at age five, and by 18, in the midst of deciding whether she would pursue a life of music, she heard the music of Spanish composer Joaquin Rodrigo and she was hooked. That's when the real journey began.
Her love for the music of Spain guided her to her mentor, renowned pianist and teacher Nohema Fernandez. This music professor at the University of Arizona in Tucson encouraged Dena to pursue outside projects. While her music colleagues in school were studying Bach, Beethoven and Brahms, she was yearning to learn
more about the great Spanish composers and participating in the Aspen Music Festival and the Music Festival of Santander, Spain.
Her first CD, “The Piano Music of Joaquin Rodrigo,” has just been released on the Centaur label, and this milestone in her musical career coincided with her participation in a Piano and Harpsichord Music Festival in Almeria, Spain. She also spent time with the family of Rodrigo and shared her recordings of his amazing works. “Spanish classical music captures the human spirit, and it makes something come alive in you,” Dena says.
Young Andrew goes from watching “Finding Nemo,” to classical music DVDs designed for children, where he dances and sings along with the music of the great masters. Music is very much a part of his life. “He loves the rhythms and he loves to sing along," says his proud mom. As for a career in music, “we'll see what happens when he's five.”
Now that Dena has just returned from her whirlwind musical trip to Spain, she's busy working on musical pieces she will perform during the El Paso Pro Musica's Chamber Music Festival in January. She will also be part of the Bach's Lunch informance concerts at the El Paso Museum of Art. Each Thursday in the month of January, a musical performance is followed by a discussion of the works highlighting the composers of the Festival. “I'm thrilled to be part of such an important festival like this one,” says Dena.
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