The first-place winner of the Billie Holiday Vocal Competition and semi-finalist in the American Traditions Competition, jazz vocalist Sara Jones has toured 49 states and performed in numerous concert halls across the country.
Jones has performed as a soloist with the National Symphony Orchestra, Cincinnati Pops Orchestra, and Ravinia Festival Orchestra, under the batons of Emil de Cou and Erich Kunzel. An additional highlight includes a solo performance on the Esplanade with Keith Lockhart and the Boston Pops Orchestra. In the Baltimore/Washington area, Jones was a featured vocalist with the Jazz Ambassadors and has graced the stages of the Hippodrome Theater, Meyerhoff Symphony Hall, Strathmore Mansion, and the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts.
Jones, who began her musical career as a pianist, received her Bachelor of Music in Piano Performance at St. Mary's College of Maryland and her Master of Music in Piano Accompanying at the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music. After graduation, she chose to pursue a professional vocal career with the Soldiers’ Chorus of the U.S. Army Field Band, where she served for six years. Now a civilian, Jones maintains an active performing schedule and has a CD recording, Daydream A Little on Petite Musique Records. A collection of beloved jazz standards and bossa novas, it features Jones and major Brazilian Jazz Group, Trio Da Paz. Jones’ schedule can be found on her website, sarajones.com.
Also a former educator, Jones was a professor at Towson University where she taught Jazz and Commercial Voice and directed the Towson Vocal Jazz Ensemble. Recent engagements for Jones include a featured by the Sara Jones Trio at the 2024 Monterey Jazz Festival in Monterey, CA, and a guest artist appearance in 2025 with the Buffalo Symphony and Chesapeake Symphony Orchestra at the River Concert Series. Jones will appear with the Columbia Orchestra in Fall of 2025.