Dr. Nola Jones of UT Martin to coordinate music programs
Metro Schools is ringing in the new year with a renewed focus on music education. Feb. 6, Nola Jones, DMA, will join the district as the new coordinator of music.
She comes to Nashville from the University of Tennessee at Martin where she most recently
served as director of bands and associate professor of music education. Jones will work alongside
long-time MNPS educator Carol Crittenden, coordinator for the arts, to increase opportunities for music
education in Metro Schools.
“Dr. Jones will bring experience and expertise to our district that will support the new Music Makes Us
initiative,” said Jay Steele, associate superintendent of high schools. “We are very excited to have her
join us in the upcoming semester.”
Last year, the district announced the “Music Makes Us” education initiative in partnership with the
Mayor’s office, the Music City Music Council and what is now the Nashville Public Education
Foundation. The coalition will make Metro Schools the leader in music education with a new
contemporary curriculum that reflects today’s diverse musical landscape and an enhanced traditional
music curriculum in band, orchestra and choir. The national search for the leader of that effort
continues.
At Martin, Jones conducted the wind ensemble and concert band, serving as director of the Skyhawk
marching band and pep band, teaching undergraduate courses in conducting and music education, and
serving as a member of the UTM faculty senate. Prior to her appointment at UT Martin, she served as
the associate director of bands and assistant professor of music education at Northern Arizona
University. There, she directed the Lumberjack Marching and Pep Bands, conducted the Symphonic
Band, supervised student teachers, and taught undergraduate conducting and methods classes. She
also served as director of the university’s summer music camps.
Jones has extensive experience as a middle school and high school band instructor in her native
Mississippi and in Tennessee. She formerly served on the music faculty of Martin Luther King, Jr. High
School in Nashville. During her public school tenure, Jones’s bands were recognized for their
achievements in concert, sight-reading, and marching, including performing in the Macy’s Thanksgiving
Day Parade and three Bands of America Regional Championships, and receiving the John Philip Sousa
Foundation’s prestigious Sudler Shield of Excellence.
