General Manager
Pronouns: he/him
rjones@composersforum.org
Rocky Jones (he/him) is a writer, producer, podcaster, musician, and video artist, who has spent his life and career committed to the idea that art and artmaking can serve as catalysts for a more inclusive, equitable and just world. A native of the Washington, DC area and an alum of Columbia University, he is also an innovative marketing and communications pro with nearly twenty years of experience in industries as varied as retail, design, and non-profit arts administration.
As a passionate lifelong advocate for expanding access to the arts, Rocky is thrilled to start a new adventure as the General Manager at the American Composers Forum. Previously, he was the first Director of Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion and the Communications Manager at Minnesota Opera as well as the producer of the podcast, crescendo: building the future of the arts. He is also the producer and a co-host of the long-running podcast, The Score, which looks at contemporary arts and culture through an explicitly Black and queer lens. In 2021,The Score was recognized as one the “Podcasts Opera Pros Tune To” by The New York Times. In 2024, Rocky also served as the Executive Producer and a co-host of Lincoln Center’s first podcast, ART CLASS. He is a proud alum of ArtEquity’s 2019 National Facilitator Training cohort and, during his time at MN Opera, was a primary author of their landmark EDI Charter, a nationally and internationally recognized guiding set of principles that explicitly committed the company to bringing its work into alignment with antiracist and anti-oppressive values. He also served for a time as the Communications and Operations Manager at One Voice Mixed Chorus, the largest LGBTQ+ chorus in North America.
Rocky is currently based in St. Paul, Minnesota’s East Side. In his spare time, you can usually find him at the gym, watching a trashy reality show, spending quality time with his husband, Dennis, or spoiling his beautiful feline daughter, Delilah.