{{Short description|American music critic (1892–1951)}} {{Infobox person | name = Isabel Morse Jones | image = Isabel Morse Jones circa 1939.jpg | caption = Isabel Morse Jones in 1939 | other_names = | birth_name = Isabel Morse | birth_date = 1892 | birth_place = [[Cleveland, Ohio]] | death_date = September 4, 1951 | death_place = [[Rome]], [[Italy]] | occupation = Music critic, musician, clubwoman | years_active = | known_for = | notable_works = }}
'''Isabel Morse Jones''' (1892 – September 4, 1951) was an American musician, arts patron, and clubwoman. She was the music and dance critic at the ''[[Los Angeles Times]]'', from 1925 to 1947.
== Early life == Isabel Morse was born in 1892 in [[Cleveland|Cleveland, Ohio]], the daughter of Arthur Mason Morse.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/49530762/obituary-for-arthur-mason-morse/|title=Obituary for Arthur Mason MORSE|date=1937-09-03|work=The Los Angeles Times|access-date=2020-04-25|pages=40|via=Newspapers.com}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/49531361/memorial-tribute-conducted-for-arthur/|title=Memorial Tribute Conducted for Arthur Mason Morse|date=1937-09-06|work=The Los Angeles Times|access-date=2020-04-25|pages=21|via=Newspapers.com}}</ref> She was raised in Los Angeles, California.<ref>{{Cite book|url=http://archive.org/details/whoswhoinmusicda00holl|title=Who's who in music and dance in Southern California|date=1933|publisher=Hollywood : Bureau of Musical Research|others=University of California Libraries|pages=206–207}}</ref> She attended Los Angeles High School and the [[University of California, Los Angeles]].<ref name=":0">{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/49525815/former-times-music-editor-dies-in-rome/|title=Former Times Music Editor Dies in Rome|date=1951-09-06|work=The Los Angeles Times|access-date=2020-04-25|pages=32|via=Newspapers.com}}</ref> She was a descendant of painter and inventor [[Samuel Morse]].<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/49525206/teachers-hear-dr-aseltine/|title=Teachers Hear Dr. Aseltine|date=1943-10-23|work=The Bakersfield Californian|access-date=2020-04-25|pages=5|via=Newspapers.com}}</ref> By 1915, she was living in [[Hermosa Beach]] and hosting musical events at her home.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/49526348/society-hermosa-beach/|title=Society: Hermosa Beach|date=1915-09-26|work=The Los Angeles Times|access-date=2020-04-25|pages=39|via=Newspapers.com}}</ref>
== Career ==
=== Music and dance === Morse Jones taught and played violin in the Los Angeles Women's Symphony Orchestra. From 1925 until 1947, she was music and dance critic at the ''[[Los Angeles Times]]''.<ref name=":0" /> She worked with her friend, society page editor [[Crete Cage]], to build support for a new concert hall for the [[Los Angeles Philharmonic]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.latimes.com/entertainment/arts/la-et-cm-swed-essay-20141221-column.html|title=Year in Review: Then and now, L.A. women get things done in classical music|last=Swed|first=Mark|date=2014-12-19|website=Los Angeles Times|language=en-US|access-date=2020-04-25}}</ref> Morse Jones also wrote about music on the Pacific Coast for the ''[[The Christian Science Monitor|Christian Science Monitor]]'' and the magazine ''[[Musical America]].''<ref name=":0" />
Morse Jones lectured on music to community and professional groups,<ref>{{Cite news|last=Saunders|first=Mae|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/49524678/folk-music-analyzed-in-fine-talk-by/|title=Folk Music Analyzed in Fine Talk by Isabel Morse Jones|date=1943-10-23|work=The Bakersfield Californian|access-date=2020-04-25|pages=3|via=Newspapers.com}}</ref> and spoke about music on Los Angeles radio programs.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/49525068/high-lights/|title=High Lights|date=1934-12-08|work=The Los Angeles Times|access-date=2020-04-25|pages=4|via=Newspapers.com}}</ref> She was a founder of the Los Angeles Bureau of Music, and a founding member of the Los Angeles County Music Commission.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/49525600/musical-program-will-pay-tribute-to/|title=Musical Program Will Pay Tribute to Isabel Jones|date=1951-10-01|work=The Los Angeles Times|access-date=2020-04-25|pages=60|via=Newspapers.com}}</ref> She also supported the founding of [[Henry Cowell]]'s New Music Society in Los Angeles, in 1925.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Mead|first=Rita H.|date=1982|title=Henry Cowell's New Music Society|journal=The Journal of Musicology|volume=1|issue=4|pages=449–463|doi=10.2307/763678|jstor=763678|issn=0277-9269}}</ref>
=== Hollywood Bowl === Morse Jones served a press agent for the [[Hollywood Bowl]], and wrote a history of the venue in 1936.<ref name=":0" />
== Personal life == Isabel Morse married Carroll Welborn Jones in 1923.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/49531926/engagement-announcement/|title=Engagement Announcement|date=1923-09-02|work=The Los Angeles Times|access-date=2020-04-25|pages=29|via=Newspapers.com}}</ref> They had a daughter, Carolyn Mason Jones, who became a noted opera photographer.<ref>{{Cite news|last=Schroeder|first=Mildred|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/49533145/she-shutters-over-opera-for/|title=She Shutters Over Opera (for Pay)|date=1961-07-04|work=The San Francisco Examiner|access-date=2020-04-25|pages=17|via=Newspapers.com}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|last=Bloomfield|first=Arthur|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/49533556/photos-from-15-years-at-the/|title=Photos from 15 Years at the Opera|date=1975-10-31|work=The San Francisco Examiner|access-date=2020-04-25|pages=23|via=Newspapers.com}}</ref> Isabel Morse Jones died while staying with her daughter in Rome in 1951.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/49524909/isabel-jones-memory-will-be-honored/|title=Isabel Jones' Memory Will be Honored|date=1951-10-07|work=The Los Angeles Times|access-date=2020-04-25|pages=121|via=Newspapers.com}}</ref>
== References == {{reflist}}
{{Chief classical music critics}} {{Subject bar|portal1=Biography}} {{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Jones, Isabel Morse}} [[Category:1892 births]] [[Category:1951 deaths]] [[Category:American music critics]] [[Category:American women music critics]] [[Category:Musicians from Cleveland]] [[Category:American violinists]] [[Category:American women violinists]] [[Category:Los Angeles Times people]] [[Category:The Christian Science Monitor people]] [[Category:Los Angeles High School alumni]] [[Category:University of California, Los Angeles alumni]] [[Category:People from Hermosa Beach, California]]