Composition Matters

Jun 22 2006
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Barbara Scowcroft
Barbara Scowcroft

[b]Barbara Scowcroft[/b] is currently in her 24th season in the Utah Symphony as a first violinist, where she also served as acting Assistant Concertmaster in the 1998-1999 season.

In 1986, Ms. Scowcroft became Music Director and Conductor of the Utah Youth Symphony Orchestra. The orchestra was invited to participate in the Cultural Olympiad for the 2002 Winter Olympic games in Salt lake City, for which she expanded the orchestra of 135 Utahns into an International orchestra of 170 musicians representing twelve countries and five continents.

Ms. Scowcroft was Music Director and General Manager of the Nova Chamber Music Series from 1986-2004, receiving the Governor's Award in the Arts for that organization in 1999. She was also Music Director and Conductor for the Vivaldi Candlelight concerts from 1997 to 2004. She performs annually in the Grand Teton Music Festival Orchestra, and recently conducted works for large ensembles on their chamber music series. Ms. Scowcroft has been a guest conductor at the American Festival for the Arts in Houston, Texas since 2000, for which she was recently appointed Resident Conductor. In April of 2006, Ms. Scowcroft made her debut as the first woman conductor of the Salt Lake Symphony, receiving positive reviews for her musical interpretation. Ms. Scowcroft is an adjunct professor of violin at the University of Utah.

During her high school years, Ms. Scowcroft was a member of the Chicago Youth Symphony Orchestra. She studied at the Mozarteum in Salzburg, Austria, and at the North Carolina School of the Arts. Ms. Scowcroft received both her Bachelor of Arts in Violin Performance and her Masters of Music degree in Conducting from the University of Utah.

In 1992, Ms. Scowcroft received Salt Lake City's first Mayor's Award for the Arts. In 2003, she received O.C. Tanner's "Everyday Hero" award for her contributions to Utah non-profit organizations, and in 2004, was selected by the National Association of Women Business Owners, Utah Business Magazine, and the Salt Lake Chamber of Commerce as one of "Thirty Visionary Women" of Utah.

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I appreciate the great thought and time that people are taking to respond to these important issues. In reading today’s responses, I have realized two things: one, education is important, and two, each city is so different that we have to cater to those individual mentalities. For example, I live and work in Salt Lake City. I have had a chance to see the positive impact a new piece can have when presented in an enthusiastic and positive way to young musicians.

Not only have I had this opportunity in Salt Lake City, but also in Houston, Texas, where I have conducted every summer since 2000. Part of their very focused mission statement is to generate and promote not only American music from the nineteenth century onward, but to incorporate brand new works into every summer of these high school musicians’ lives. So, Houston is raising a generation of musicians who grow up learning and playing brand new music. It will be part of their life, their intellectual and emotional development. A very interesting point is: because it is playable and accessible to high school students, for some reason, it is that much more accessible to the audiences. What is the message there? It seems, for some audiences in some cities who are more resistant to contemporary music, there has to be a way to ease them into the process, into the contemporary world.

Some cities are behind, and Salt Lake City is perhaps a little more resistant. I am by no means saying that we should “dumb it down” for audiences. Our audiences are smart and large, and they are capable of receiving these new works. As a professional orchestral violinist, I am extremely willing and look forward to learning new works; I am fiercely proud to be part of presenting new works.

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Barbara Scowcroft
Barbara Scowcroft

[b]Barbara Scowcroft[/b] is currently in her 24th season in the Utah Symphony as a first violinist, where she also served as acting Assistant Concertmaster in the 1998-1999 season.

In 1986, Ms. Scowcroft became Music Director and Conductor of the Utah Youth Symphony Orchestra. The orchestra was invited to participate in the Cultural Olympiad for the 2002 Winter Olympic games in Salt lake City, for which she expanded the orchestra of 135 Utahns into an International orchestra of 170 musicians representing twelve countries and five continents.

Ms. Scowcroft was Music Director and General Manager of the Nova Chamber Music Series from 1986-2004, receiving the Governor's Award in the Arts for that organization in 1999. She was also Music Director and Conductor for the Vivaldi Candlelight concerts from 1997 to 2004. She performs annually in the Grand Teton Music Festival Orchestra, and recently conducted works for large ensembles on their chamber music series. Ms. Scowcroft has been a guest conductor at the American Festival for the Arts in Houston, Texas since 2000, for which she was recently appointed Resident Conductor. In April of 2006, Ms. Scowcroft made her debut as the first woman conductor of the Salt Lake Symphony, receiving positive reviews for her musical interpretation. Ms. Scowcroft is an adjunct professor of violin at the University of Utah.

During her high school years, Ms. Scowcroft was a member of the Chicago Youth Symphony Orchestra. She studied at the Mozarteum in Salzburg, Austria, and at the North Carolina School of the Arts. Ms. Scowcroft received both her Bachelor of Arts in Violin Performance and her Masters of Music degree in Conducting from the University of Utah.

In 1992, Ms. Scowcroft received Salt Lake City's first Mayor's Award for the Arts. In 2003, she received O.C. Tanner's "Everyday Hero" award for her contributions to Utah non-profit organizations, and in 2004, was selected by the National Association of Women Business Owners, Utah Business Magazine, and the Salt Lake Chamber of Commerce as one of "Thirty Visionary Women" of Utah.

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