Signing off 54 years in the Cleveland Orchestra

Message from the orchestra:
The Cleveland Orchestra’s principal keyboard, Joela Jones, will be presented with the Orchestra’s twenty-fifth Distinguished Service Award… on October 14, which features her in a performance of Prokofiev’s Symphony No. 5.

Joela Jones’s singular career with The Cleveland Orchestra — across 54 seasons, more than 250 concerto performances, and thousands of unforgettable concerts — stands out as extraordinary. But her contributions go well beyond the countless notes played on stage. These were decades filled with Monday night rehearsals, accompanying the remarkable volunteers of the Cleveland Orchestra Chorus, afternoons or mornings in coaching sessions interacting with conductors and guest vocalists, countless chamber music rehearsals, and many Orchestra committee meetings, working tirelessly for the sake of her fellow musicians and the ensemble.

Joela joins the distinguished list of the world’s longest serving orchestral players.