He was a horn player and teacher born in Hamilton, New York, to a family where his father was Professor of Romance Languages at Colgate University. He studied at the Curtis Institute of Music and during those years, in 1939, he was taken on as a member of the Philadelphia Orchestra.
Going into service during WWII he joined the Marine Band in Washington D.C. and served as Principal Horn. After leaving the service he returned to the Philadelphia Orchestra and remained with them for the rest of his professional career until he retired in 1978.
After his retirement he remained in the position of Personnel Manager of the Orchestra and held the post of President of the International Horn Society from 1986 to 1987. Alongside his performances with the orchestra he was also a founder of the offshoot group, the Philadelphia Brass Ensemble, with whom he achieved two Grammy Award winning albums, and a founder of the Philadelphia Woodwind Quintet.
The numerous recording made throughout his career include his Mason Jones: Solo Performances 1951-1954, Mozart, Heiden Turina: Chamber Works, Mozart: Legendary Interpretations, Saint-Saens: Greatest Hits, The Godfather and Other Move Themes, Hindemith’s Sonata for Trumpet with Glenn Gould and the Grammy Award Winning The Glorious Sound of Brass and The Antiphonal Music of Antonio Gabrieli with the Philadelphia Brass Ensemble.
As a teacher he joined the faculty of the Curtis Institute of Music in 1946 and as a writer he published books such as Solos for Horn Player with Piano.
He passed away in Wynnewood, Pennsylvania in 2009 when he was 89 years old.
Philadelphia Brass Ensemble recordings
Angels We Have Heard on High (Traditional French/James Chadwick/Edward Barnes)
CBS MK 7033 (CD: A Festival of Carols in Brass)
Here he is performing as soloist with the Philadelphia Orchestra on Emmanuel Chabrier’s “Larghetto for Horn and Orchestra”…
Sources:
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mason_Jones
- http://www.sotone.com/111-Jones.htm
- http://www.hornsociety.org/content/view/80/lang,en/
- http://www.amazon.com/Solos-Player-Piano-Mason-Jones/dp/0793554004
- http://www.hbdirect.com/album_detail.php?pid=320125#
- https://www.discogs.com/artist/839510-Mason-Jones-2
- http://www.allmusic.com/artist/mason-jones-mn0001500203