Catch the rising stars.

Scott Conklin

While many five-year-old boys dream of becoming a firefighter or police officer when they grow up, Scott Conklin decided soon after his fifth birthday that he wanted to be a concert violinist. As a successful violin soloist and chamber musician, Conklin is well on his way to achieving his dream.

Deciding to be a musician was a natural choice for Conklin, assistant professor of violin at The University of Texas at Arlington. His parents, both musicians, always played music and created a nurturing environment where Conklin and his sister could explore their creative and artistic interests. He grew up in Murray, Kentucky, where his father, Ray, is professor of trombone at Murray State University. His mother, a middle school guidance counselor, plays both clarinet and violin.

Although he didn't like the timbre of the clarinet, Conklin loved the sound of the violin and had his first violin lesson at age 3. While he remembers his first lesson and the first time he held a violin, Conklin readily admits it took a couple years for him to get serious about violin study. Soon after age 5, he began traditional violin lessons, then quickly changed teachers and began to study with a Suzuki teacher. Conklin studied with Carol Dallinger at the University of Evansville from the time he was 6 through high school.

Like many successful performers who had supportive parents, Conklin acknowledges the sacrifice of his parents, who would regularly drive a lengthy distance for his lessons. For more than ten years, the Conklins would regularly travel from Murray to Evansville, Indiana, a commute of two-and-a-half to three hours, for Conklin's violin lessons. To make the most of the extended drive, his lessons were extremely long, and over the years, a family-like bond developed between the Conklins and his teacher.

Conklin describes the experience of his Suzuki training as a "magical bond between the parents, students and teachers," which created a powerful and loving environment for learning. Through his early studies, Conklin learned to love his instrument. Although he started primarily as a Suzuki student, he recognizes the influence of many of his teachers and strives to be own-minded about varied approaches to violin playing and teaching.

This open and inquisitive manner of thinking is evident in several facets of Conklin's life, as is his passion for the violin. He has enjoyed a variety of interests, including the visual arts, the theater and sports. While he has spent much of his life wishing he had been solely focused on music during those early years, Conklin quickly admits he was glad to have a "normal high school experience" and have the opportunity to explore a variety of interests.

In junior high, high school and college, Conklin played baseball and basketball. Even today, he plays on a softball team as a means of relaxation and enjoyment. In high school, Conklin competed on speech and debate teams. During his freshman, sophomore and senior years in high school he earned the title of state champion for storytelling.

Conklin also had a strong interest in the theater and participated in productions in high school and college. In high school he excelled in dramatic performance competitions and even placed in the top fifteen in a national competition of dramatic performance. For the competition, he portrayed twelve to sixteen different characters from a ten-minute cut of a play, illustrating his versatility as an actor and performer.

Another creative outlet for Conklin has been in the area of the visual arts, although time constraints currently limit his artistic endeavors. With varied interests in the visual arts and theater from which to draw inspiration, Conklin believes his involvement in areas outside music has served as a complement to his musical career. An enthusiastic and devoted musician, his open-minded approach to life has allowed him to draw on many of his life experiences and challenge his own musical practices. With a genuine desire to learn, Conklin continually tries to evaluate the learning process and grow as a musician.

For his outstanding achievements while in high school, Conklin received two Governor Youth Merit Awards. In addition, he holds the distinction of being named a "Kentucky Colonel," a title given to him in 1988 by Kentucky Governor Wallace Wilkinson, for his outstanding musical achievements. In an address to members of the Honorable Kentucky Colonels in 2000, then Governor Paul E. Patton remarked, "The name Kentucky Colonel has become synonymous with strength of character, leadership and dedication to the welfare of others." With this honor, Conklin has joined an illustrious list of individuals who have made a contribution to society, including Muhammed Ali, Senator John Glenn, Colonel Harland Sanders of Kentucky Fried Chicken fame and U.S. Army General Omar Bradley.

In 1997, Conklin completed a bachelor of music degree from The Cleveland Institute of Music, where he studied with David Updegraff. He earned a master of music degree in 1999 and completed a doctor of musical arts degree in 2002 from The University of Michigan School of Music under violin pedagogue Paul Kantor. Conklin is enjoying his second year as a faculty member at The University of Texas at Arlington, where he specializes in private instruction, chamber music and string pedagogy.

Conklin regularly performs as a chamber musician and frequently appears in concert with pianist Robert Auler. The Auler/Conklin Duo, a musical partnership formed in 1997, has performed on a wide variety of concert series and college campuses throughout the country. The Auler/Conklin Duo recently has performed in a variety of venues, including The University of Michigan, University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music, Eastern Illinois University, The University of Texas, The University of Evansville, Indiana University-Purdue University at Indianapolis, Miami University, Murray State University, Interlochen Arts Camp and an appearance on the Brave New Works Concert Series honoring Pulitzer Prize-winning composer Leslie Bassett.

Conklin is a former member of the Spoleto Festival Orchestra (Italy) and currently serves as a faculty member at The Interlochen Arts Camp Michigan All-State Division, The University of Texas at Arlington Summer Strings Camp, the Ottawa Suzuki Institute Mid-Southwest and the American Suzuki Institute at Stevens Point, Wisconsin, during the summer months.

Realizing his dream to become a concert violinist, Conklin has performed as a violin soloist with numerous orchestras, including the Louisville, Nashville and Berlin Symphony Orchestras. As the winner of the 1988 MTNA Junior High School String Performance Competition, Scott Conklin exemplifies the numerous outstanding musicians who have developed and risen to the top of their field as a result of dedicated music teachers throughout the country. While many five-year-old boys dream of becoming a firefighter or police officer or even a concert violinist when they grow up, Scott Conklin has followed his dream and is establishing himself as a strong force among the professional violinists of the twenty-first century.

Robert Henry

Musical inspiration can come from the most surprising places. Classical pianist Robert Henry credits a country musician as providing the musical stimulus that led him to the piano. A native of Marietta, Georgia, Henry and his family were huge fans of country guitar legend Chet Atkins and attended many of Atkins's concerts. Although a pops concert featuring Atkins provided the musical attraction for the Henrys to attend the concert, the orchestra's performance of Gershwin's Rhapsody in Blue caught Henry's attention and served as a catalyst for him to study piano. Beginning piano lessons at age 7, Henry possessed a natural musical talent, and his pianistic skills progressed at a quick pace. He sight read a lot of music as a child and even held a position as church pianist from the ages of 10 to 14.

Although Henry presented his first solo recital at age 13 and made his orchestral debut with the Montgomery Symphony Orchestra at age 17, performing Prokofiev's Third Concerto to critical acclaim, Henry admits his teenage years were unfocused at times. He attributes the dramatic change in his attitude and commitment to music to a conversation with Michael Walters, one of his teachers at Kennesaw State University, who helped him realize he was missing out on precious learning opportunities. With renewed motivation, drive and determination, twenty-two-year-old Henry found himself practicing the piano eight hours a day. As a result of this substantially increased time at the piano, Henry developed a practice regimen consisting of an hour of scale work, a daily review of the complete Chopin Erodes, followed by the intense study of pieces. As a piano student of David Watkins, Henry graduated from Kennesaw State University in 1999 with a bachelor of music degree in piano performance.

He continued his Matthay-based studies with Anne Koscielny at the University of Maryland and completed a mister of music degree in piano performance from Maryland in 2001. Henry is pursuing a D.M.A. degree in piano performance at the University of Maryland as a student of Larissa Dedova.

Since presenting his first solo recital at the age of 13, Henry has performed under the auspices of the Steinway Society of Atlanta, American Matthay Association, Baldwin Piano Company and the Pro-Mozart Society of Atlanta. He has been heard in solo performances at several Georgia MTA conventions, many universities throughout the states and on several National Public Radio broadcasts. In addition, he has received scholarships from the American Matthay Association, The Steinway Society, The Atlanta Music Club and the Cobb County MTA.

During the 2002-2003 season, Henry enjoyed performance engagements with the Louisiana Philharmonic, Acadiana Symphony, Indianapolis Chamber Orchestra and the Friday Morning Music Club Orchestra. Henry made his Carnegie Hall solo recital debut on October 7, 2002, and had solo performances in Washington, D.C., Georgia, South Carolina, Indiana and Denmark.

During December of 1997, Henry was invited to the Glinka Conservatory in St. Petersburg, Russia, where he studied with headmaster Sergey Dzevanovsky. Henry has performed in the master classes of Andre Watts, Leslie Howard, Sergei Babayan, Sergey Dorensky, Jose Feghali, Lorin Hollander, Walter Hautzig, Susan Stare and Constance Carroll. He was a participant in the 2001 Sergei Babayan Piano Academy, held at the Cleveland Institute of Music.

In addition to an active performance schedule, Henry has been actively entering competitions and received first place in four international piano competitions. Most recently, Henry won the inaugural 2002 Atlanta International Piano Competition, receiving a cash prize and performances at Carnegie Hall, Wells Cathedral in England and a 2004 performance engagement with the Atlanta Symphony. A cash prize and an additional Carnegie Hall performance were awarded to Henry for his first-place finish in the 2002 Missouri Southern International Piano Competition. He also won first prize in both the 2002 Washington International Piano Competition and the 2001 New Orleans International Piano Competition, receiving cash prizes and performance engagements with the Louisiana Philharmonic and the Acadiana Symphony and solo performances at Louisiana State University, Loyola University and the Kennedy Center. Prior to this, Henry entered several MTNA state and national competitions, and in 1998, he was named the Georgia MTNA Collegiate Piano Competition winner. This past year he also was a prizewinner in the prestigious Cleveland International Piano Competition. He is a finalist in the year-long American Pianists Association Fellowship Auditions.

Henry has considerable collaborative performance experience in addition to his solo career. He was accompanist for the Atlanta Boy Choir for two years under the direction of Fletcher Wolfe and toured Nova Scotia with the choir during the summer of 1999. He his served as accompanist for Kennesaw State University and Towne View Baptist Church, and he is the accompanist for the University of Maryland Chorus and Chorale. Most notable of the various collaborative performance opportunities include the master classes he has accompanied of such eminent artists as Hakan Hagegard, Jerry Hadley and Frederica von Stade.

When asked how his playing has changed in the last few years, Henry acknowledges he is a smarter, more intelligent musician than he was earlier in his career. Because of his natural ability, Henry describes his earlier years of playing as more or less operating on automatic pilot. Now, he has become a pianist who pays much more attention to listening to the music and is a more consistent performer. Instead of relying solely on his natural ability, he now considers a plan for every movement of the body while he is playing. In his words, "Every part of the body knows to play a certain way, every time." As a result of learning to play with more efficiency and consistency, Henry normally practices three to four hours a day prior to a competition, instead of the eight hours a day when he was 22 years old. The rest of the time he and his wife Meryl, who is a pharmacist, enjoy a quiet life in the mountains of Georgia.

Ann Milliman Gipson is associate professor of piano and director of piano pedagogy at Baylor University She has held faculty positions at Oklahoma Baptist University, Delta State University and the University of Kentucky, teaching applied piano, class piano and piano pedagogy. She is immediate past president of the Oklahoma MTA and is MTNA National Conference Planning Committee chair