Leadership of NOVA Chamber Series changing

Deseret News (Salt Lake City), Feb 22, 2004 by Edward Reichel Deseret Morning News

After 18 years as music director of the NOVA Chamber Music Series, Barbara Scowcroft has decided it's time to move on. "Other creative muses are calling me," Scowcroft said.

The decision to leave NOVA was a relatively easy one to make, she said. "I woke up on the morning of our last concert (in January) and realized I needed to heed the call to my other musical and creative muses."

Scowcroft said that she is leaving NOVA at a point where the series is healthy, both financially and artistically. "It's at its peak right now. Everything is running beautifully."

Starting with the 2004-05 season, Scowcroft will be replaced by Corbin Johnston as music director and Noriko Kishi as general manager. Both are colleagues of Scowcroft's at the Utah Symphony, where Johnston is the associate principal bass and Kishi is a substitute cellist. Scowcroft will be given the title of NOVA's music director emeritus.

Johnston said that he was surprised but also excited about being asked to take over from Scowcroft. "I'm really thrilled that she and the board have confidence in me."

He said that running a chamber music series will be a new undertaking for him, but it is something he's wanted to do for some time. "I've been tossing ideas around in my head for the last couple of years, but nothing that I've dreamed up was feasible."

Johnston has no plans to make any changes to the series. "Nothing needs to be changed. There may be room for growth, but if so, it needs to be done in the right way. You don't try to fix something that's not broken."

Because concerts for 2004-05 have already been planned, Johnston's impact as director won't be noticed until the following season. "The next season is already scheduled, so Norry and I are just going to be managing it. And that will be good for us -- it'll give us time to learn the ropes."

Under Scowcroft, NOVA became a venue for local artists, principally from the Utah Symphony, to play a wide range of chamber music. And Johnston plans to keep it that way. "My goal is to have it as a platform where the best can happen." And he admitted that it shouldn't be difficult to continue where Scowcroft has left off. "I really appreciate what Barbara has accomplished. Everything has been done in the right spirit."

Today, NOVA is far different from what it was when it was founded by Russell Harlow in 1978. Harlow, who is associate principal clarinet with the Utah Symphony, brought in outside artists and ensembles. "With Russ, NOVA was what the Park City Music Festival became," Scowcroft said. She, on the other hand, was more interested in having local musicians perform. "I was into utilizing all of our own wonderful talent, and it evolved into a powerful forum for local artists."

Scowcroft inherited NOVA almost by default. "I joined the symphony in 1982, and right away Russ asked me to help him out." Scowcroft ended up doing the work a general manager would do until 1985. "In 1985, Russ went on sabbatical from the symphony, and on his way out of town he stopped by and handed me a box, saying that was NOVA and asking if I would take over." Scowcroft said she didn't do anything with it for a year. "I thought to myself, 'I went to school in violin performance, not in managing a nonprofit organization.'"

But her musical instincts took over, and in spring 1986, Scowcroft held her first concert as NOVA's new director. "We did (Stravinsky's) 'Soldier's Tale.' It was a big, splashy concert. I had conducted a little before, so I felt comfortable doing it."

Scowcroft can recount many highlights during her 18 years with NOVA, but one she treasures most is having Joseph Silverstein take part in the series' annual fund-raising concerts. "I played second violin to Joey in quartets for 15 years at our fund-raisers. I boldly, proudly and selfishly took that position, even after I was married to Ralph," she said, referring to Utah Symphony concertmaster Ralph Matson. Matson wound up playing viola at these concerts.

Playing with Silverstein was a well-deserved reward for the long hours Scowcroft put in and for all the behind-the-scenes work she had to do. "I did everything from scrubbing the kitchen floor after a reception to performing. I built stages, brought in chairs from the symphony, typed mailing labels and stamped envelopes, and I'm very proud of that. No one should be beneath doing that."

Not having to run NOVA will give Scowcroft some much needed free time. "I've been living a turbocharged life. I want to have more personal breathing space and get back to reading, walking my dogs and enjoying my home."

But even without NOVA, Scowcroft still has her calendar filled to bursting. She continues in her post as music director of the Utah Youth Symphony, she'll still direct the annual Vivaldi by Candlelight concerts and she teaches at the University of Utah. In addition, she spends eight weeks each summer playing in the orchestra at the Grand Teton Music Festival in Jackson Hole, Wyo., where her husband is co- concertmaster, and another two weeks in Houston working with that city's youth orchestra.