Jeffrey Schoyen is New SSO Conductor

SALISBURY, MD---From Massachusetts to Mexico, London to Louisiana, Dr. Jeffrey Schoyen has performed, conducted, instructed and lectured around the world. 

Now he comes to Salisbury University as the new conductor of the Salisbury Symphony Orchestra (SSO).

Schoyen graduated with distinction from the New England Conservatory of Music, completed an M.F.A. at Carnegie Mellon University and earned a D.M.A. at the State University of New York at Stony Brook.  He also received a Frank Huntington Beebe Grant to study in London with William Pleeth and is a Tanglewood Gustav Golden Award recipient. 

“Dr. Schoyen is a superb cellist who has performed internationally, an outstanding conductor with experience in campus and community settings, and a fine teacher-scholar,” said Dr. Timothy O’Rourke, Dean of the Charles R. and Martha N. Fulton School of Liberal Arts. “He will bring skill, creativity and energy to both the conductor’s podium and the professor’s lectern.”

Schoyen also hopes to introduce a new and fun repertoire to the orchestra while further developing the skills of its musicians.

A sports lover and pragmatic teacher, Schoyen is known to coach his students as if they were athletes, bringing vitality and enthusiasm to the rehearsal.  “Windup,” “follow-through” and “throw the bow back and forth” can be heard echoing across the stage as he helps young musicians develop their technique.  The result is a homerun in sound.

Sensitive to music’s varied roles, Schoyen sees the orchestra as a way to unite a community:  “The person sitting beside you could be a medical doctor, a teacher or a student.  Being a part of the SSO gives you a deep sense of community and identity.”

“Schoyen comes on the 20th anniversary of the symphony and represents a new era in the history of the orchestra’s development,” said Derek Bowden, managing director of the SSO. “I think he will be a particularly valuable resource for our string section, the backbone of the symphony orchestra.”

“Schoyen has a broad background in music and fine arts.  We believe that his new position with the University makes him the perfect choice to continue this tradition while striving to reach new levels of symphonic achievement,” said Amy Miller, chair of the SSO Board of Directors. For more information call 410-543-6030 or visit us at www.salisbury.edu. "