Press Release - May 18th, 2004, Boston, MA

Back Bay Chorale Appoints Scott Allen Jarrett as its 5th Artistic Director

The Back Bay Chorale board of directors is pleased to announce the appointment of Scott Allen Jarrett as its 5th Artistic Director, commencing with the Fall 2004 season. Mr. Jarrett recently guest conducted the Chorale’s 30th anniversary concert performance of Handel’s Judas Maccabaeus. The concert garnered critical acclaim from the Boston Globe, described as “superb”, and described Mr. Jarrett as “as the most promising young figure to emerge on the local choral scene”.

“We are immensely pleased to appoint Scott to the position of Artistic Director of the Back Bay Chorale”, said board President Alexandra Houck. “Both the board and membership are looking forward to innovative and exciting programming in our upcoming seasons”.

A native of Virginia, Scott Allen Jarrett came to Boston to pursue graduate degrees in conducting at Boston University, where he is currently a doctoral candidate completing a dissertation on the choral music of Robert Schumann. Mr. Jarrett was recently named Director of Music and University Organist and Choirmaster at Boston University’s Marsh Chapel. Also at BU, his appointment includes adjunct faculty posts in both the School of Theology as a Lecturer in the Practice of Sacred Music, and in the College of Fine Arts as Teaching Associate in Choral Conducting.

Mr. Jarrett was recently named Music Director and Conductor of the Oratorio Singers of Charlotte, the resident chorus of the Charlotte Symphony in North Carolina. His first season with the chorus will include performances of Messiah, the Brahms Requiem, a concert performance of Beethoven’s Fidelio, and the Schubert Mass in G.

He will also lead the Chamber Chorus in performance at the Piccolo Spoleto Festival in Charleston, SC in May of 2005.

Since the summer of 1997, Mr. Jarrett served as the Assistant Conductor of Choirs at the Boston University Tanglewood Institute where he assists Dr. Ann Howard Jones. Also at Tanglewood, Mr. Jarrett teaches advanced music theory and history to the students in the Young Artist Vocal Program. This summer, Mr. Jarrett plans to study the German language while in residence in Berlin. He has also been invited to conduct and present an organ recital at the great St. Matthias Cathedral in Budapest. In August, Mr. Jarrett will serve as Guest Conductor for New Hampshire’s White Mountain Musical Arts Bach Festival 2004, leading the festival’s orchestra and chorus in performances of Cantata 106 and 214, and the second Orchestral Suite.

As a pianist, Mr. Jarrett frequently serves as rehearsal pianist and assistant for Ann Howard Jones. He also accompanied rehearsals for the late Robert Shaw during his Boston visits. As the rehearsal pianist for the Carnegie Hall Choral Workshop, Mr. Jarrett played rehearsals for Charles Dutoit. As a baritone, Mr. Jarrett has been a member of the Robert Shaw Festival Singers, the Boston Bach Ensemble, and Schola Cantorum of Boston.

He has studied conducting with Ann Howard Jones and David Hoose, organ and continuo playing with Julian Wachner and Peter Sykes, and voice with Ramon Kyser and Douglas Kevin Wilson.