Jenny Oaks Baker

Jenny Oaks Baker (born May 27, 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.

Music career

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.^[2] Baker’s 2010 album Then Sings My Soul reached #1 on the Top Classical Albums Billboard chart. Her solo albums have been highly awarded by the Faith Centered Music Association's Pearl Awards.^[3]

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.^[4]

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.^[5][6][7]

Personal life

Baker is the daughter of Dallin H. Oaks and the late June Oaks.^{[citation needed]} 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.^{[citation needed]}

Baker is married to Matthew Baker,^[8] and they live in the northern Virginia suburbs of Washington with their four children.^[9]

Discography

Studio albums

• On Wings of Song (1998)
• Songs My Mother Taught Me (1999)
• Where Love Is (2000)
• American Tapestry (2001)
• The Light Divine (2003)
• O Holy Night (2007) - Billboard Classical Albums #4
• Silver Screen Serenade (2008)
• Then Sings My Soul (2010) - Billboard Classical Albums #1
• Wish Upon a Star (2011) - Billboard Heatseeker Albums #35
• Noel: Carols of Christmas Past (2012) - Billboard Heatseeker Albums #15

Awards and nominations

Grammy Awards

The Grammy Awards are awarded annually by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences of the United States.

References

External links

• Jenny Oaks Baker Official website
• Jenny Oaks Baker on Facebook