Elayne Jones

Elayne Viola Jones (January 30, 1928 – December 17, 2022) was an American timpanist. An African American woman, born in NYC to Barbadian immigrants, she overcame challenges. From learning piano to excelling in timpani, she graduated from Juilliard, her mentors being Saul Goodman and Morris "Moe" Goldenberg. Jones's career was marked by remarkable firsts. She became the first Black opera orchestra member in 1949, played with esteemed ensembles, and won a blind audition to join the San Francisco Symphony in 1972, becoming the first black principal in a major American orchestra. Also, Jones was the first documented African American to play with the New York Philharmonic. In 2019 she became the fourth female member of the Percussive Arts Society Hall of Fame.

Amidst the struggle for equality, she co-founded the Symphony of the New World, advocating integration. However, she faced both racism and gender bias throughout her career, including a tenure controversy.

Outside music, Jones married George Kaufman and raised three children. She died at 94 due to dementia.

Early life Elayne Viola Jones was born in New York City on January 30, 1928, the only child of immigrants Cecil and Ometa Jones from Barbados. She began learning piano at the age of six from her mother who had originally come to New York with the promise of a career as a concert pianist, but ended up as a cleaner due to her color. With this, she became her daughter's first piano teacher and motivated her with words such as "Laynie, you're going to do something respectable. You're not going to clean White people's floors!"

In June 1945, Jones graduated from the High School of Music & Art (now the Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School of Music & Art and Performing Arts). Sponsored by Duke Ellington, she was awarded a scholarship to the Juilliard School of Music.

Career At the early part of her career, she was faced with racism and gender discrimination.

Activisms In 1965, Jones, along with other Black musicians, and Benjamin Steinberg founded the Symphony of the New World. It is the first racially integrated orchestra in the United States that give Black musicians the opportunity to play orchestral repertoire. Also, they introduced blind auditions to eliminate racial prejudice. The San Francisco Symphony accepted the advice and in 1972 Jones blindly beat forty people to land herself a job at the company. The blind audition is a tradition that is used up till today. For instance, in 1950 during the tour by New York City Opera, Jones and her colleague Blanche Birdsong went to the Chicago Opera House for early preparation for the concert but the doorman refused to let her in with the expression:

We don't let Negress in the theater. Why don't you go to the South Side where you belong? In 2019, Jones became the fourth female member of the Percussive Arts Society Hall of Fame and in the same year her autobiography titled Little Lady with a Big Drum was published.