About

The name “Vinylinist” was given to me by one of my fans at a show at Hard Rock Live. I liked it, and decided to use it as my moniker. I enjoy playing classic and modern rock music on violin, and am thrilled to be able to do this on a regular basis. I perform regularly with many ensembles, including my own groups Violectric and Fretless Rock, and we perform rock tunes on classical and electric instruments. If you see me, please come say “Hello!”

Michelle Jones is an instrumentalist, composer, recording artist (including on several albums that have been nominated and/or won GRAMMY® awards), educator, and producer/host of “Note-Worthy with Michelle Jones” (tv talk show).  Scores of stringed instruments come alive in her talented hands when performing on international stages as band leader to the string ensemble Violectric: Classic Musicians Who Rock®. Violectric is named as “House Band for the City of Orlando” by Orlando Mayor, Buddy Dyer in 2022. Audiences are electrified time and time again by her versatility of style and custom arrangements ranging from classical to heavy metal to rock ’n’ roll. She plays a variety of violins and violas to achieve these styles, and performs regularly on some of the world’s greatest stages.

Most recently, she has been recording, touring and performing as a special guest with Wayne Newton since 2018. Jones and Violectric performed as featured entertainment for Tim Burton and The Neon Museum’s Boneyard Ball in Las Vegas, alongside The Killers and Clint Holmes with his band in October 2019. Jones arranged, recorded and performed a special medley with Violectric for this event for Burton, to which he is quoted as saying, “You wrote that just for me?  It was absolutely beautiful! Thank you!”  Also in 2018, she recorded with Rock and Roll Hall of Fame member Jon Anderson (lead singer from YES) on his newest album, “1000 Hands.” Jones recorded alongside many GRAMMY® award-winning and nominated musicians, including Chick Corea, Robby Steinhardt (Kansas), Jean-Luc Ponty, Pat Travers, Jonathan Cain (Journey), Tower of Power, Michael Winslow, and others. In June 2018, Jones performed a solo sold-out show in Las Vegas at the Neon Museum’s NE10 Studio and helped raise over $186,000 for the restoration of the Hard Rock Café Neon Guitar Sign.  She performed with Violectric for the lighting party at Las Vegas’ Neon Museum in March 2019, an event covered by international news media around the globe.  In May 2017, she toured Japan through five cities on a sold-out solo tour. She is also a regular special guest at Comic-Con and national conventions.

Jones is the President and Band Leader of Violectric, Inc., a string ensemble with live percussion that plays exclusive arrangements of classic and modern rock music on their exclusive Violuminescence LED electric instruments with LaserBows. Violectric performs compositions from AC/DC to Metallica to Led Zeppelin, and has appeared, recorded and toured around the world with most every major name act in the business from opera to heavy metal. Violectric is an Official SiriusXM Radio Artist (their music is programmed and heard every day), an iHeart Radio Artist, and is with Viacom networks. They have opened for acts including John Legend, Josh Groban, SIA, Twenty-One Pilots, Sting, Adam Levine, David Foster, Huey Lewis and the News, Kristin Chenoweth, Katharine McPhee, Kool and the Gang, and Rascal Flatts. Violectric was selected as the first Artists in Residence for the Dr. Phillips Center for the Performing Arts in Orlando, Florida, including live concerts and educational workshops with the Dr. Phillips Center Advent Health School of Art and Wellness. Jones and Violectric are currently named Guest Performing Artists in Residence at The Neon Museum in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Jones produces and hosts “Note-Worthy with Michelle Jones,” a talk show dedicated to one artist/act per show that airs on several networks and streaming services. Recorded in a live format, Jones has an in-depth discussion and conversation with each guest, uninterrupted for approximately 15 minutes, followed by a special short performance or video featuring that guest. During the discussion, guests are encouraged to share their passions for life and overall well-being in their lives. Guests featured in the inaugural season include GRAMMY® Award Winners, Music Directors and Artistic Directors from celebrity touring and stage acts, award-winning performing artists, best-selling authors, and a variety of professionals in the entertainment industry (managers, publicists, agents, etc.) The focus is not only on the people the audience see/hear in a show, but also on each of the roles that make a show possible. Everyone has a passion in life; many are blessed to be able to make their passions their careers. This show is dedicated to their “Note-Worthy” stories.

Jones is also a composer, and has scored and recorded music for several short films and full-length documentary films and television and radio commercials that have aired nationally and internationally. She worked with acclaimed film producer Robin Cowie (The Blair Witch Project and others) to compose and record the music with her band Violectric for Sea World Parks’ and Busch Gardens’ “Howl-O-Scream” event held nationally at several locations. The multiple compositions were included in all of the theme parks, advertisements, and short films related to the event. In early 2016, she and her musicians worked with film producers to record original music and video for a project with Dolby Laboratories that is continuously playing on the main screens in the lobby at Dolby Labs Headquarters in San Francisco, CA. As a recording artist, Jones has composed and/or recorded on many albums, soundtracks for television and films, advertisements, and video games internationally.

Jones has performed professionally with numerous artists and symphony orchestras, including the world-renowned Mantovani Orchestra. As Principal Violin with the Mantovani Orchestra, she has performed multiple tours of Asia to sold-out audiences in prestigious venues, including The People’s Hall of Congress in Beijing, China. She is a featured rock violin soloist having performed with several orchestras, including Orlando Philharmonic Orchestra, Brevard Symphony Orchestra, Encore Performing Arts, and Florida Pops Orchestra. She is currently Concertmaster of the Florida Pops Orchestra and Encore Pops Orchestra, and Section Violin and Viola with the Walt Disney World Orchestra. She also has served as either Concertmaster or Associate Concertmaster, or section violin/viola with several other touring Broadway musical productions over the past two decades. Jones was Concertmaster of Basilica of the National Shrine of Mary, Queen of the Universe Orchestra from 2000-2010. She is also currently a solo violinist and ensemble leader for Disney’s Fairytale Weddings and Honeymoons. Her performances have been featured on PBS, BBC, CNN, CBS, MTV, VH1, ABC, NBC, WETV, FOX, Lifetime, Bravo, Freeform, and Canada’s CTV.

Her style is not limited to classical as she also arranges and performs violin, viola, 5-string, vocals, percussion and keyboard with various international ensembles. She has performed in Toronto’s world-famous Massey Hall and many other renowned concert halls.  She is versatile with genres from classic rock to pop, from punk to heavy metal.

Jones continues to perform and tour internationally with artists, and has performed shows with Lady Gaga, Wayne Newton, Brian Newman, Mannheim Steamroller, Page and Plant (Led Zeppelin), Pink Floyd, Frank Sinatra, Jr., Josh Groban, Fernando Varela, Michael Bolton, Peter Cetera and Chicago, Dennis DeYoung and Styx, The Beach Boys, Brian Wilson and Pet Sounds, Smokey Robinson, Beyonce and Destiny’s Child, Anne Murray, Bernadette Peters, Sarah Brightman, Itzhak Perlman, Joshua Bell, and many others.

Through Violectric, Jones created and established a not-for-profit Violectric Educational Programs Series with interactive workshops and live concerts with students, and has performed multiple concerts at schools and universities across the USA and at the Shekou International School in China. Violectric Education Programs have been featured on local and national television broadcasts (including PBS), and the members have been recognized for their philanthropy and commitment to education. Jones’ dedication to philanthropy has earned her four President’s Volunteer Service Awards (gold and bronze) from Presidents Obama and Trump in recent years for her many hours of volunteerism in the Central Florida Community and beyond.

Jones has been involved in educating students of all ages for over twenty-five years. She has served as an Adjunct Professor of Music at Converse College, Professor of Violin Studies at Suzuki Institute of Maitland, Director of Music for Windermere Community Church Preschool, Director of Music for Holy Family Catholic Church and School Early Education Center, and Music Instructor at Windermere Academy of Music. She also hosts master classes within the Central Florida public and private schools, and is frequently requested as a guest lecturer at many colleges and universities throughout the United States. She is currently is the owner of Strings Etc., a private studio providing music instruction for theory, arranging, and composition, and on various instruments, including violin, viola, piano and keyboards. She has also been a certified facilitator of educational programs worldwide at the Walt Disney Company through the Youth Education Series and Disney’s English Language Programs

Jones is an active voting member of The Recording Academy (GRAMMY®s), Music Teachers National Association (MTNA), American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP), Association of Performing Arts Professionals (APAP), American Federation of Musicians of the United States and Canada (AFM), Las Vegas Musicians’ Union, and Central Florida Musicians’ Association (CFMA). She is a Mentor with GRAMMY U (collegiate educational division of The Recording Academy), was an international delegate for the AFM, and served on several committees including the Diversity Committee and the International Musician Committee. With the CFMA, she served on the Executive Board, Recording Committee, Diversity Committee, and the Youth Committee.

Jones has studied with several renowned instructors, including Dr. Irene Grau, Dr. Rachel Vetter-Huang, Dr. Henry Janiec, Dr. Jerri Lucktenberg, Dr. George Lucktenberg, Mr. Alfons Carlo, and Dr. Ayako Yonetani, just to name a few. She has performed under the baton of many famous conductors, including, but not limited to: Richard Hayman and Keith Lockhart from the Boston Pops, Arnie Roth and Chip Davis from Mannheim Steamroller, Victor Borge, Marvin Hamlisch, David Effron, Dr. Henry Janiec, Dr. William Scott, Derric Johnson, Anton Coppola, and Barry Knight and Charles Ellis from the Mantovani Orchestra.  She attended Converse College for music and graduated from Rollins College with degrees in business and management.

Jones and her ensembles are sponsored by Bridge Violins, Ltd., MAC Cosmetics, Sennheiser Instrument Systems’ Artist Relations, QSC Audio, Pre-Sonus Audio, In-Earz and Fisher Laboratories (in-ear monitors), and Mercedes-Benz USA.