Jenny Oaks Baker
| Jenny Oaks Baker | |
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| Background information | |
| Birth name | Jennifer J. Oaks |
| Born | May 15, 1975 |
| Origin | Utah, USA |
| Genres | Classical |
| Occupations | Violinist |
| Instruments | Violin |
| Years active | 1998–present |
| Labels | Shadow Mountain Records |
| Website | http://www.jennyoaksbaker.com/ |
Jenny Oaks Baker (born May 15, 1975[1]) is an American violinist. She has released ten studio albums and was a first violinist in the National Symphony Orchestra for seven years.
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[edit] Music career
Grammy Nominated violinist Jenny Oaks Baker first began playing at age four. She made her solo debut at the age of eight.
Baker won the Concerto Soloists National Young Artists String Competition, National Music Camp Concerto Competition and the Utah Symphony Guild Competition. She was awarded in the Kingsville International String Competition. She was the recipient of the Michaelian Prize in the Irving M. Klein International String Competition.
Baker earned a bachelor’s degree in violin from Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia, and later received a Master of Music degree from Juilliard School in New York City.
Baker's professional work includes an active recording career. She has released ten albums since 1998 as a Shadow Mountain Records Artist. Her album Wish Upon a Star: A Tribute to the Music of Walt Disney, earned a nomination for the 54th GRAMMY Awards for Best Pop Instrumental Album. Baker’s albums consistently chart on Billboard, with her 2010 album Then Sings My Soul hitting the #1 spot on the Top Classical Albums chart. Her solo albums have been highly awarded by the Faith Centered Music Association's Pearl Awards.[2]
Since beginning her professional career, Baker debuted as a soloist in Carnegie at Carnegie Hall in the Easter Festival Concert and has been a guest soloist with the Portland Ensign Choir & Orchestra (formerly the Portland Mormon Choir & Orchestra) based out of Portland, Oregon, the Jerusalem Symphony, the San Diego Symphony, the Utah Symphony Orchestra, the Concerto Soloists Chamber Orchestra of Philadelphia, the Orchestra at Temple Square in Salt Lake City, and the Mormon Tabernacle Choir. Baker was a featured soloist with the National Symphony Orchestra on December 8–11, 2005. She served as a judge for the 2007 Stradivarius International Violin Competition. In April 2008 Governor Jon M. Huntsman Jr. of Utah awarded Baker the Governor’s Mansion Artist Award for excellence in artistic expression.
For seven years, Baker performed as a first violinist in the National Symphony Orchestra before resigning in 2007 to devote more time to her young family. Baker is still active in both large professional and smaller community performances.[3][4][5]
[edit] Personal life
Baker was born May 15, 1975 to Dallin H. Oaks and the late June Oaks. She is a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and an alumna of East High School (Salt Lake City, Utah) class of 1993.
Baker is married to Matthew Baker,[6] and they live in the northern Virginia suburbs of Washington with their four children.[7]
[edit] Published works
[edit] Albums
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[edit] Sheet Music
- The Jenny Oaks Baker Violin Collection, Vol. 1
- The Jenny Oaks Baker Violin Collection, Vol. 2
- The Jenny Oaks Baker Christmas Collection
[edit] References
- ^ U.S. Public Records Index, Vol 1 (Provo, UT: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc.), 2010.
- ^ "FCMA Pearl Awards". http://www.pearlawards.org/pearl_awards.htm. Retrieved 2008-05-05.
- ^ "Music Notes: Jenny Oaks Baker fiddles around; lend me a tenor". Salt Lake Tribune. 23 July 2010. http://www.sltrib.com/sltrib/entertainment/49961450-81/concert-info-baker-com.html.csp.
- ^ Burger, David (2 July 2010). "Utah performers get their moments at Stadium of Fire". Salt Lake Tribune. http://www.sltrib.com/sltrib/entertainment/49842618-81/stadium-fire-perform-browns.html.csp.
- ^ "Deseret Book hosts weekly street concerts". Mormon Times. 9 July 2010. http://www.mormontimes.com/article/15743/Orem-Deseret-Book-hosts-weekly-street-concerts?s_cid=queue_title&utm_source=queue_title.
- ^ billboard.com bio
- ^ An Interview with Jenny Oaks Baker
