Conductor Scott Allen Jarrett shares his love of Bach with the zeal of an evangelist, transforming the way audiences think about Baroque music.
“Jarrett’s sheer joy in making music was contagious and, indeed, he brought his own approach to the choir. Vocal climaxes were big and full, belying the thirteen-singer numbers. Corporate choral textures were infused with a warmth and glow that perfectly meshed with Brahms’ engaging vignettes. – South Florida Classical Review
Athlone Artists is pleased to welcome Scott Allen Jarrett to its roster of opera and concert artists, conductors and stage directors.
When it comes to performance opportunities, Scott Allen Jarrett believes in “saying yes and then figuring out a way to make it work.” Jarrett currently serves as Director of Music at Boston University’s Marsh Chapel, where he oversees all musical activities, including services broadcast live on WBUR, 90.9FM to more than 50,000 listeners weekly.
Building on a career devoted to the study and performance of Bach’s music, Jarrett is also Artistic Director of the newly-minted Bach Akademie in Charlotte, NC, where he has built an annual cantata series and summer festival of national profile and reach. Now in its second season, “word has spread quickly about Bach Akademie Charlotte, their professional choir, and their polyphonic excellence” (CVNC.org). In a recent article profiling Jarrett and the Bach Festival in the Charlotte Observer, Karin Brookes, Executive Director of Early Music Americastates, “Scott transforms the way (audiences) think about Baroque music.”
Jarrett also holds positions as Resident Conductor of the Handel and Haydn Society, Artistic Director of the Back Bay Chorale in Boston, and regular collaborator at the Oregon Bach Festival, conducting this year’s Discovery Series. In 2012, after conducting a series of performances of the Bach B Minor Mass, Jarrett became the first guest conductor to lead Miami’s Seraphic Fire. Since that time, he has collaborated regularly with Patrick Dupré Quigley and is on the faculty at the Aspen Music Festival’s Professional Choral Institute. Jarrett also served eleven years as Director of Choruses and Assistant Conductor of the Charlotte Symphony.
“Over the past few years, I have seen Maestro Jarrett’s career rapidly develop and grow, extending his footprint from Boston to North Carolina with the Charlotte Bach Festival, and to collaboration with the renowned Oregon Bach Festival and more,” says Miguel Rodriguez of Athlone Artists. “He brings a unique expertise and knowledge to his performances that I find very exciting!”
“Miguel is really something,” Jarrett says of Rodriguez. “He’s put together an incredible roster, and I think Athlone Artists is onto something really smart. I am truly grateful for Miguel and all who trust in the artistic quality that I can provide, and who trust I will handle the music responsibly, with great care and honor.” He adds, “When you end up doing what you love, it’s its own special sort of evangelism. I appreciate all of the chances that this life in music has afforded me, and I want to keep looking to musical organizations across the nation where I can be supportive and helpful.”
In addition to his early music credentials, Jarrett established the Living Composer Series at Marsh Chapel, affording audiences a regular interaction with contemporary music and an eagerness to engage with and practice new music. His collaborations include James Kallembach’s The Most Sacred Body (commercially released by Gothic Records), Jeremy Gill’s Before the Wresting Tides (recorded and released with the Boston Modern Orchestra Project), Back Bay Chorale’s premiere of Mohammed Fairouz’s Anything Can Happen, Julian Wachner’s Come my dark-eyed one, and Pultizer Prize® winner Caroline Shaw’s Seven Joys, co-commissioned with Philadelphia’s Mendelssohn Club. In April 2019, Jarrett commissioned, premiered, and recorded Resurrection, an oratorio by composer Robert Kyr.
Off the podium, Jarrett is active as a baritone and keyboard player. Of a recent recital of Debussy and Fauré with tenor Nicholas Phan and the Collaborative Arts Institute of Chicago, the Chicago Tribune stated, “There wasn’t a note or syllable out of place here, and Jarrett got the ethereal accompaniment just right.” Jarrett can also be heard as continuo player on Seraphic Fire’s recording of the Monteverdi Vespers and as pianist on their 2012 Grammy® nominated recording of the Brahms Requiem.
