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The American mezzo-soprano, Kyrsten Chambers Jones, obtained her dual Bachelor of Music degrees summa cum laude in Voice Performance (as a student of Dr. Craig W. Maddox) and Piano Performance (studying with Mrs. Edit Palmer) from Stetson University (2012-2016). She taught through the Stetson Community School of Music throughout the summer (June 2015-June 2017). During the school year of 2017 to 2018, she gained more collaborative experience as an accompanist at the Stetson School of Music, serving both soloists and ensembles. In recognition of her academic achievements during her Stetson career, she earned the title of Presser Scholar by a unanimous vote from the faculty of the Stetson University School of Music in April 2015. Before her graduation, she was acknowledged as the Presser Scholar at the Undergraduate Awards Ceremony, a school-wide celebration honoring the academic achievements of the graduating Class of 2016. In September 2015, during her senior year, she won the Concerto Competition at Stetson University and performed “Erbarme Dich” from J.S. Bach’s Matthäus-Passion BWV 244 with the Stetson University Symphonic Orchestra in November. In addition to a rigorous academic schedule as well as teaching through the Stetson Community School of Music, she also successfully performed two, hour-long senior recitals. Her piano recital took place in November 2015, and her vocal recital in April 2016 was an auspicious end to her many solo performances in Lee Chapel.
Her love for piano and music of the Baroque period drew Kyrsten Chambers Jones to her harpsichord studies in the spring of her sophomore year with Dr. Boyd Jones. She used these newfound abilities as the harpsichordist for the Stetson University Chamber Orchestra under the direction of Maestro Anthony Hose. In October 2014, she toured with the Chamber Orchestra around the Atlanta area. In April 2015, she demonstrated her talent by performing as the harpsichordist for a Stetson University production of all three parts of George Frideric Handel’s Messiah. That May, she had the opportunity to not only play harpsichord, but also perform the aria “Gelido in ogni vena” from Antonio Vivaldi’s Farnace overseas while touring with the Stetson University Chamber Orchestra in England and Wales. In October of that year, she demonstrated her continuo abilities again, this time for Stetson University Opera Theatre’s production of Alessandro Scarlatti’s Griselda. In the spring of 2017, she played the harpsichord in Stetson University’s performance of J.S. Bach’s Johannes-Passion BWV 245, conducted by Simon Carrington.
Kyrsten Chambers Jones obtained her her Master of Music degree in Voice Performance and Literature from Eastman School of Music (2017-2019). In April 2019, after winning the Eastman Concerto Competition the previous year, she performed Debussy’s Trois Chansons de Bilitis accompanied by orchestra in Kilbourn Hall. This performance took place a mere two days after her successful master’s degree recital. In recognition of her great academic work at Eastman, she was inducted into Phi Beta Kappa in May 2019 as she graduated with her master’s degree. She obtained her Doctor of Musical Arts degree in Voice Performance and Literature at the Eastman School of Music (2019-December 2022), studying with Professor Katherine Ciesinski.
Kyrsten Chambers Jones developed an avid love for opera after listening to Puccini’s La Boheme at the age of 13. When she was 18, she appeared in her first role, The Mother in Menotti’s Amahl and the Night Visitors, in a community production in Melbourne, Florida (2012). Kyrsten debuted with Stetson University Opera Theatre as the Old Lady in Leonard Bernstein’s Candide in her sophomore year. The following year, she successfully sang the challenging role of Idamante from W.A. Mozart’s Idomeneo. In February 2016, she performed the role of Friederike in the operetta Ein Walzertraum by Oscar Straus. At the Eastman School of Music, she performed as Hansel in a production of Engelbert Humperdinck's Hansel und Gretel in May 2018. In winter 2019, she performed the title role of Orfeo in the Eastman Opera Theatre production of Gluck’s masterpiece.
In addition to her study of voice, Kyrsten Chambers Jones has played piano from the age of 6. A versatile keyboardist, she enjoys performing both in church and in the concert hall. At New Covenant Baptist Church in DeLand, Florida (August 2014-July 2017), she accompanied singers and led worship services while regularly performing in Stetson University’s Lee Chapel, in ensembles, collaborative partnerships, and as a solo pianist.
Kyrsten Chambers Jones recently made her Carnegie Hall debut in January 2022 when she participated in SongStudio with Renée Fleming at Carnegie Hall. She made her professional debut in December 2019 with the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra when she performed the alto solos from G.F. Handel’s Messiah, filling in for an ailing soloist on twenty-four hours’ notice. She has been a featured soloist with a variety of ensembles and genres, performing: “Lamentation,” the third movement of L. Bernstein’s Symphony No. 1, under the baton of Dr. Rayvon T.J. Moore with Eastman School Symphony Orchestra; “Von den Stricken” from J.S. Bach’s Johannes-Passion BWV 245 and “Laudamus Te” from J.S. Bach’s Mass in B minor BWV 232, both with Voices, a private chamber choir conducted by Dr. William Weinert in Rochester; “My Soul’s Been Anchored in the Lord” with the Stetson University Women’s Chorale; and selected solos from G.F. Handel’s Judas Maccabeus with the Stetson University Choral Union. On a Stetson University Concert Choir tour in 2014, under the direction of Dr. Timothy Peter, she was the alto soloist for the New York premiere of Kevin Isaac’s Ave Maria at Lincoln Center.
Kyrsten Chambers Jones currently lives in Rochester, New York, and serves as Adjunct Professor of Voice at Rochester Institute of Technology (since August 2022). In her daily life, she feels most fulfilled when she is teaching her private voice students via Zoom, reading, and taking long walks with her husband Jeremiah and their rescue dog Schubert. |
