May 24th
Tickets $25
Opera At The Acorn Proudly Presents the return of Metropolitan Opera Mezzo-Soprano, Isola Jones
Isola Jones is internationally recognized as an extraordinary mezzo-soprano. Making her professional
debut in the Verdi Requiem with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Ms. Jones within two years made
her Metropolitan Opera debut in the role of Olga in Eugene Onegin. Since then she has sung more than
500 performances as a leading artist at “The Met”, paired with such international artists as Luciano
Pavarotti, Placido Domingo, Leontyne Price, Joan Sutherland, and performing under the baton of
Richard Bonynge and James Levine.
Ms. Jones has performed many leading roles in her distinguished career including Giulietta in Les
Contes D'Hoffman, Ulrica in Ballo in Maschera, Preziosilla in La Forza del Destino, Amneris in Aida,
Suzuki in Madama Butterfly, Maddalena in Rigoletto, and Dalila in Samson and Dalila. But it is her
portrayal of Carmen, her signature role, for which she is best known.
This internationally acclaimed artist can be heard on a number of opera and concert recordings such as
The “ Flying Dutchman” , Mahler’s “Symphony # 8” and “ Les Noces”, with the Chicago Symphony
Orchestra Sir Georg Solti and James Levine, respectively; “Porgy and Bess” with Lorin Maazel
conducting; RCA’s “ Cavalleria Rusticana “, James Levine, conducting; and a solo recording entitled
"Music of Bach, Handel and Purcell." Ms. Jones has also appeared in 10 "Live from the Met" telecast
productions including: La Forza del Destino; Manon Lescaut; The 100th Anniversary Gala of the
Metropolitan Opera and Francesca DaRimini all of which are available on video. The Metropolitan
Opera just recently released a new DVD (unavailable on any other format) of the original
telecast of Rigoletto featuring Isola Jones, Cornell MacNeil, Ileana Cortrubas, Justino Diaz, and
Placido Domingo.
Ms. Jones has sung with the following opera companies: Arizona Opera, Baltimore Opera, Calgary
Opera, Chicago Lyric Opera, Cincinnati Opera, Dallas Opera, Denver Opera, Greensboro Opera, Hun-
garian Opera, Metropolitan Opera, Palm Beach Opera, Seattle Opera, Spoletto Festival, and at the
Kennedy Center with the Washington Opera.
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In 1984 Ms. Jones was presented with the prestigious Merit Award from her Alma Mater, Northwestern
University in Evanston, Illinois. She earned a Master's Degree of Science in Education from Capella
University in Minneapolis, Minnesota, and was awarded an Honorary Doctorate of Musical Arts from
Providence College in Rhode Island. Ms. Jones is currently teaching voice as an adjunct faculty member
at South Mountain Community College in Phoenix, Arizona, and has been inducted as an honored member of the United Who's Who of Executives and Professionals.
You may also find Ms. Jones listed in “Faces of Arizona”, an art book of Arizona’s famous artists and
patrons created and photographed by Michel Sarda. She was honored to participate in the world
premier of “The Blessingway Songs” by composer James DeMars.