Carrie Scoggins, of Scoggins Violins, is a fixture in the musical community in Utah, and a longtime supporter of the Utah Viola Society. Her son, Spencer, of Scoggins Bows, is now carrying on the tradition!

In 1979 Carrie arrived in Salt Lake City to attend the Violin Making School of America. Graduating in 1983 she was then asked to teach the Varnish and Set Up classes at the school. Michael Scoggins, her husband, was the Woodworking instructor. They taught from 1984 – 1988.

Scoggins & Scoggins Violin Shop opened in the summer of 1988 in Salt Lake City. The shop served the string instrument community in Utah and the surrounding states for 28 years.

Carrie closed the retail shop in May 2016 to focus on the construction of new instruments to accommodate the increased demand for her instruments. She is focusing more on cellos and violas these days.

Spencer Scoggins is a local Archetier performing bow rehairs and repairs. He worked at Scoggins & Scoggins Violin Shop for 10 years under Carrie and Michael Scoggins. Spencer formed his own company specializing in bows in 2023 after having studied with Dan Salini and Robert Dow.

Come meet Carrie and Spencer at Viola Day, and see their work!

We are so thrilled to have Jonathan Vinocour as our 2024 Guest Artist! Here is a little more about him, as well as some videos of his incredible playing and teaching!

Violist Jonathan Vinocour enjoys a varied career as an orchestral player, chamber musician, and soloist.  He was appointed Principal Viola of the San Francisco Symphony in 2009 having previously served as Principal Viola of the Saint Louis Symphony and Guest Principal of the Gewandhaus Orchestra of Leipzig and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra.  Since that time, he has appeared frequently as a soloist with the San Francisco Symphony.  Concerto performances have also brought him to the Saint Louis Symphony, La Jolla Music Society, Mainly Mozart Festival Orchestra and the New World Symphony where he was a featured artist of their Viola Visions Festival alongside Tabea Zimmerman, Kim Kashkashian, Roberto Diaz, and Cynthia Phelps.  

A sought-after chamber musician, he is a regular guest of festivals such as the Seattle Chamber Music Society, La Jolla SummerFest, Marlboro, Bridgehampton, Salt Bay Festivals and Chamberfest Cleveland.  Chamber music partners have included Yefim Bronfman, Yo-Yo Ma, Augustin Hadelich, Jean-Yves Thibaudet, Igor Levit and James Ehnes among others.  He also performs frequently on the chamber music series of the San Francisco Symphony and as a recitalist and chamber musician on concert series around the country.  

Vinocour graduated from Princeton University with a degree in chemistry and from the New England Conservatory where he studied with Kim Kashkashian.  An active and dedicated teacher, he serves on the faculty of the San Francisco Conservatory of Music as well as the Aspen Music Festival and School and is a frequent coach at the New World Symphony.  Vinocour plays on a 1784 Lorenzo Storioni viola on loan from the San Francisco Symphony.

Listen to his gorgeous rendition of Prokofiev’s Romeo and Juliet arranged by Borisovsky.

Then don’t miss this fantastic “Viola Visions” orchestral masterclass with the New World Symphony, featuring Jonathan Vinocour, Cynthia Phelps, and Roberto Díaz.
 

Stay tuned for more info on Viola Day, and remember to mark your calendars for October 12!

October 12 @ University of Utah

Gardner Music Building
9:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m.

The Utah Viola Society returns on Saturday, October 12, with all of the events that you’ve come to know and love, including a guest artist masterclass + recital, instrument showcase, and pizza lunch!

This year, we are thrilled to welcome Guest Artist Jonathan Vinocour, Principal Viola of the San Francisco Symphony, and faculty of the San Francisco Conservatory of Music and the Aspen Music Festival.

Please mark your calendar, and we’ll be in touch with more details, plus information on more viola events that will be happening this year!

This week, Utah Symphony Principal Violist, Brant Bayless, will perform two important works for Viola and Orchestra. Join the Utah Symphony in Park City on Wednesday night for Hindemith’s Kammermusik No. 5, and Holst’s Lyric Movement!

Hear Brant’s thoughts on this rare viola event below:

You are performing two rarely heard works for viola and orchestra – what led you to choose this repertoire?

I was initially asked to play the Holst Lyric Movement because 2024 is the 150th anniversary of the composer’s birth. It’s a wonderful but shorter work, so there was time available in the program for something “fun” too! There’s always some negotiating back and forth when choosing repertoire, and my first suggestion (a concerto by living Japanese composer Dai Fujikura) was shot down, but somewhat surprisingly they loved the idea of this completely bonkers Hindemith concerto

What sets these works apart in the world of viola literature?

The Hindemith was written for his own performing, and he played it over 75 times throughout his career. It’s the first of his big works for solo viola and orchestra, and he considered it his calling card…LITERALLY. The first two bars in his handwritten manuscript are featured on his own business card! Employing all his virtuosic ideas as a composer and master of the instrument, it really seems tailored to wow audiences and contemporary critics. The Holst Lyric Movement was written for Lionel Tertis, and although quiet and contemplative on the surface is tightly constructed and has passages that require the virtuosity and command of the entire range of the instrument that Tertis was known for. 

Is there any connection or relationship between these works or their composers?

Only tangentially, as far as I know…but if we remember that Hindemith actually played the first performance of William Walton’s Viola Concerto, and notice that the harmonies employed in the second movement of Kammermusik (particularly in the closing measures!) are also used in Walton’s concerto from just a couple years later, I do project a kinship between Hindemith and English music of the era in general.

What is your process like to prepare for a concerto performance?  In particular, is there anything about either of these unique works that led you to approach the process differently?

I’d always heard OF the Kammermusik as a dauntingly difficult work, and I love trying my hand at difficult music. I did give it a listen when we were selecting repertoire just to make sure I wasn’t signing myself up for something truly unpleasant, but all the while through the learning process I have purposefully avoided listening to what I am sure is a phenomenal recording by Tabea Zimmerman. I’ve been telling friends and colleagues that I wanted to make “my own bad decisions without being influenced by others.” Similarly with the Holst, the last time I’ve heard a performance was when Scott St. John played it on an Utah Symphony concert during Keith Lockhart’s tenure.

Learning music from the score, sitting at the piano and fumbling through piano reductions to get an idea how the parts fit together, feels so delightfully disconnected from the era of being able to conjure up something with the click of the internet! I love learning music this way, it just feels so old-school!

Do you have any pre-concert rituals to get you into the “zone”?

A good short bike ride is good to the blood flowing, but mostly life can’t really stop to let me have any sort of ideal ritual. Slow calm practicing with emphasis on mental focus is key for the warm up before walking on stage!

In a rare visit to North America, one of the world’s most sought-after violists, Tabea Zimmermann, will be giving the Primrose Memorial Recital and Master Class this year at Brigham Young University. Huge “Thank You” to Dr. Claudine Bigelow and BYU for hosting this event!

The Primrose Memorial Concert will be a complete program for solo viola.  Zimmermann will feature 2 Bach Suites, Reger Sonata 1, Hindemith’s 1937 Solo Sonata, and a series of Kurtag-Ligeti movements.  The recital will take place on Monday, February 19, in the Music Building Concert Hall at BYU, with an early start time of 5 pm. 

The Master Class will take place on February 17th, from 2-4 pm, in room 4146 of the new Music Building at BYU.  Admission to both events is free.

Don’t miss the opportunity to hear one of our viola heroes in an epic solo recital! Scroll down for the full schedule of events that week.

Here is the full week of events around Tabea Zimmermann’s Utah visit:

• Saturday, February 17: Masterclass at Brigham Young University, 2:00-4:00 PM, BYU Music Building Room 4146
• Monday, February 19: Primrose Memorial Concert – Solo Recital, 5:00 PM, BYU Concert Hall
• Friday, February 23: Masterclass at University of Utah, Dumke Hall 12:00 PM
• Friday, February 23 and Saturday February 24: Utah Symphony, U.S. Premiere of Michael Jarrell’s Émergences-Résurgences and Weber’s Andante and Hungarian Rondo, 7:30 PM, Abravanel Hall

Dear Friends,
We had an absolutely great time at Viola Day in November!  We experienced the virtuoso artistry of our guest Toby Appel, along with an insightful and entertaining masterclass, and discussion about viola icon Rebecca Clarke.  We had fun catching up with colleagues from around the state, and had a room full of instruments to play.  What could make a bunch of violists happier?One more huge THANK YOU to everyone who made this possible:

• Our Institutional Partners: the University of Utah and Utah State University.
• Season Sponsors: Scoggins Violins and Salini Violins
• Event Sponsors: Moroz Violins and Prier & Sons Violins 
• All of you: the members of the Utah Viola Society!!!

As we turn the page into 2024, we are starting off with a lot of excitement.  One of the world’s great violists, Tabea Zimmermann, will be making a rare visit to North America, and spending a whole week in Utah!  Here is the preliminary list of events:

• Saturday, February 17: Masterclass at Brigham Young University, 2:00-4:00 PM, BYU Music Building Room 4146
• Monday, February 19: Primrose Memorial Concert – Solo Recital, 5:00 PM, BYU Concert Hall
• Friday, February 23: Masterclass at University of Utah, 12:00 PM
• Friday, February 23 and Saturday February 24: Utah Symphony, U.S. Premiere of Michael Jarrell’s Émergences-Résurgences and Weber’s Andante and Hungarian Rondo, 7:30 PM, Abravanel Hall

Hope to see you there!
UVS President Bradley Ottesen, on behalf of the UVS Team.