Music

She may be a top-notch violinist, but when people see Jenny Oaks Baker with her four children – the oldest 6, the youngest 1 year – they assume she’s either their older sister or their nanny.

“The most common question I get is, ‘Are all these kids yours?'” says Baker, 32, who sandwiches her own practicing between helping 6-year-old Laura on violin and 4-year-old Hannah on the piano. They get an hour each of practice time with their mom, and Mom fits in her own hour or two per day as she prepares for upcoming holiday concerts.

Jenny Oaks Baker’s seventh album since 1998, O Holy Night landed at No. 7 on the national Billboard classical charts the first week of November, followed by Yo-Yo Ma at No. 8 and Joshua Bell at No. 9. She’s excited about that and hopes to see it climb even higher toward No. 1. Shadow Mountain, a division of Deseret Book, produced the album.

It’s a joyful collection of traditional Christmas favorites with fresh and varied arrangements by some of the best arrangers around: Tyler Castleton, Dave Zabriskie, James Kessler, Merrill Jenson, and Kurt Bestor, whom Baker refers to as “Mr. Christmas” because of his popular holiday concerts and oft-heard arrangements of Christmas music.

After recording six albums previously (they’ve sold more than 100,000 and won numerous Pearl awards from the Faith-Centered Music Association), Jenny is familiar with the arrangers’ styles and was able to hand-pick them for her latest CD.

“I’ve always wanted to do a Christmas album,” she says. “I love Christmas music. It’s about the only time of year I can turn on the radio and enjoy the music.”

She is pleased with how the album turned out, describing it as “sacred, thought-provoking religious, and uplifting.”

On her CD, the violinist herself is the obvious soloist on some selections, such as Schubert’s “Ave Maria” and “What Child is This,” but she often shares the spotlight with other instrumentalists. She also includes some lighter pieces, such as Bestor’s “I Saw Three Ships” and Merrill Jenson’s “Hey Ho, Nobody Home.”

The arrangements are original, with touches of the unexpected. For instance, Bach’s “Jesu, Joy of Man’s Desiring” features pennywhistle, guitar, autoharp, percussion, and hammer dulcimer, along with the expected violin, piano, and string orchestra. A Renaissance-sounding “Bring a Torch” and a reverent violin-harp-cello rendition of Gounod’s “Ave Maria” provide nice contrast.

The result of these unusual mixes is an engaging album that can be rediscovered time and time again.

The youngest daughter of Dallin and June Oaks, Jenny was born in Provo while her father was president of Brigham Young University. An early start at age 4 with the Suzuki violin method led to her first performance at age 8 as a youth soloist with the Utah Valley Symphony.

She later earned a bachelor’s degree from the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia and a master’s degree from the Juilliard School in New York City, attending BYU only for summer terms at the Provo campus and Jerusalem Center.

Jenny met Matt Baker when he visited her singles ward in Manhattan in August 1997, a soon-to-be Utah State University graduate who was interviewing for jobs.

“It was a miracle,” the violinist explains, “because my mom had just been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer and wanted me to be taken care of before she left. Matt and I met on the day our family was having a special fast for her. It’s interesting: Our prayers weren’t answered, but hers were.” Jenny and Matt were married the following March, and June Oaks passed away in July.

“She and I were so close,” she says.

Jenny performed the Brahms Violin Concerto with the Utah Valley Symphony in the fall of 1998, shortly after the death of her mother, and titled her second CD, Songs My Mother Taught Me .

She has been a soloist at Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, and the Library of Congress, and guest soloist with the Jerusalem Symphony, the Orchestra at Temple Square, and the Mormon Tabernacle Choir.

While she enjoyed playing with the National Symphony and always had Matt’s support in improving and using her musical talent, she is happy now to be able to perform on occasion and come home to her family again.

Although her husband must travel a lot in his work with the Latin American and Caribbean sales of Blackboard (educational software), “When he’s home, he’s very helpful,” says Jenny. “I couldn’t do it without him.”

The super-busy violinist credits her own skills in planning and organizing as well as divine help in accomplishing all she does, from child care, housekeeping, and practicing to performing concerts.

“It’s still not enough,” she says, “but I do all I can, and Heavenly Father makes up the difference.”