Amanda RM Joneshas been a professional pianist in the Des Moines area since 2007. As an MTNA Nationally Certified Teacher of Music, Amanda teaches both group piano and private lessons. In addition to teaching, Amanda performs as a collaborative pianist for the Drake University voice, opera, and choral departments. In those roles, she has had the opportunity to perform with Drake students in various masterclass, competition, and recital settings at local, regional, and national levels, as well as to engage in cultural exchanges with Minzu University in Beijing, China. She collaborated with Drake students and faculty in Beijing in 2011, and was honored to collaborate with Minzu University Professor Han Changmei (soprano) on her recital during her 2014 visit to Drake. Amanda has also performed with both the Drake Musical Theatre and Drake Opera Theatre programs, and has been the principle pianist for Drake’s productions of Sondheim’s A Little Night Music, Donizetti’s Elixir of Love, Gilbert and Sullivan's The Mikado, Rorem’s Our Town, Mozart’s Le Nozze di Figaro and The Magic Flute, as well as various opera scenes. Amanda received a Bachelor of Music in Piano Performance from the Wheaton College Conservatory of Music, under the instruction of Dr. Karin Redekopp Edwards.
