Barbara Scowcroft

Music Director & Conductor, Utah Youth Orchestras

Speaking at Opening Session, Gold Baton Award, and Keynote

Barbara Scowcroft is grateful expressing her musical life as a violinist with the Utah Symphony and as the Music Director and Conductor of the Utah Youth Orchestras. During summer months, she performs as a violinist with the Grand Teton Music Festival.

Her violin studies took her to the Mozarteum in Austria, the North Carolina School of the Arts, and the University of Utah, where she graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in Violin Performance and a Master of Music in Conducting.

In addition to her work with the Utah Symphony and Grand Teton Music Festival, Barbara has performed with the Pittsburgh Symphony, ProMusica Chamber Orchestra in Columbus, Ohio, and with the Chattanooga Symphony in Tennessee.

A cherished part of her career has been serving as the Music Director and Conductor of the Utah Youth Orchestras for nearly four decades, where more than 200 youth impact her life for good each year.

For the 2002 Winter Olympics, she was honored to serve as Music Director and Conductor of World Youth Orchestra.

In 2023, she took a sabbatical from the Utah Symphony to serve as Professor of Orchestras and Conducting at the University of Utah.

Barbara has had the honor of receiving the Governor’s Mansion Award in the Arts, O.C. Tanner’s “Everyday Hero” Award for her contributions to Utah non-profit organizations, the Salt Lake City Mayor’s Award in the Arts, the “30 Women of Vision” Award by the National Association of Women Business Owners, Utah Business Magazine and the Salt Lake City Chamber of Commerce, the Distinguished Alumni Award from the University of Utah, and the 2025 Distinguished Woman Award from American Association of University Women.

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