By Aubrianna Brown 
 
Lee University’s Dr. Caitlin Jones made her international debut in October, performing in Vienna, Austria, at the Porgy & Bess Jazz & Music Club, and in Budapest, Hungary, at the Budapest Music Center. The festivals celebrated the 60th birthday of the composer Lukas Ligeti.  
 
Lukas Ligeti is an Austrian composer and improvisor currently based between the United States and Europe. A recipient of the Herb Alpert Award in Music, he served on the faculty of the University of California, Irvine, and most recently joined the Royal Conservatory of Brussels as professor of composition in 2024. He co-founded the groups Côte d’Ivoire and Burkina Electric, receives commissions from many of the world’s leading new music ensembles, and performs at festivals worldwide. 
 
“Ligeti called me on July 22 asking me to open these concerts with his marimba masterwork, ‘Thinking Songs,’” said Jones. “The piece is about 30 minutes long and contains five unique movements. From that phone call until October, my life was filled with dedicated, structured practice each day—often four to six hours. As the weeks went on, the festivals were constantly at the forefront of my mind. I gave three preview concerts in September to help prepare for the two international performances. These concerts were a great warm-up for the final performances, and they were also a wonderful way to share this piece with the community, as it is not played frequently due to its technical and musical demands on the performer.” 
 
Ligeti’s music unites a wide variety of musical inspirations and traditions, including European avant-garde, African influences, jazz, and New York’s experimental music scene. In so doing, he explores musical processes, complex polymetric structures, and possibilities of intercultural collaboration.  
 
“When Ligeti called me in July, I was immediately struck by the honor of the opportunity,” said Jones. “Receiving this invitation after years of practicing and performing was a blessing beyond my wildest imagination. God is good, and His path is sure.” 
 
Colleagues who know the rigor of Ligeti’s work underscored the magnitude of the invitation. 
 
“Lukas Ligeti personally invited Caitlin to perform at his festivals since she is one of only a few people in the world who can play his piece, ‘Thinking Songs,’ for solo marimba,” said Dr. Andy Harnsberger, professor of percussion at Lee. “This piece is monumental in terms of length, compositional technique, and technical difficulty.” 
 
Jones, a percussion instructor at Lee, is a professional percussionist who has an active career as a performer and educator. In 2018, she was the marimba soloist for the American premiere of “Concerto for Marimba and Orchestra” with The Cleveland Orchestra of Tennessee. In 2020, she gave the world premiere of “The Long Road” for solo marimba by Harnsberger and professionally recorded this work with GreenHaus Productions. In 2024, she gave her 30th live performance of the piece. She has presented at Percussive Arts Society Days of Percussion and throughout the U.S. on various topics, including health and wellness for musicians.  Earlier this year, Jones performed with the Anderson Symphony Orchestra at the historic Paramount Theatre in Anderson, Indiana. 
 
Jones earned her Doctor of Musical Arts from the University of South Carolina, her Master of Music from Lee University, and a Bachelor of Music from the University of Florida. 
 
“As an alumna of Lee University, this is a huge representation of the School of Music in the contemporary classical music world,” said Jones. “As a student at Lee, I was trained by my teacher, Dr. Andy Harnsberger, to be a performer, to give 100% to every musical opportunity that came my way, and to always push myself as a musician on stage. Now, as a Lee faculty member, to perform as a soloist for two international festivals showcasing one of the most difficult pieces in the marimba repertoire is a full circle moment and shines a major spotlight on Lee University Percussion.”  
 
For more information about Jones, visit malletech.com/artist/caitlin-jones/.