Press/Publicity Contact
For interview requests, publicity opportunities, and press inquiries,
please
contact Heather Hendrix at
hhendrix [at] deseretbook [dot] com
or (801)517-3262.
In the news
Washington Post
“Jenny Oaks Baker, an Annandale mother of four and a former first violinist for the National Symphony Orchestra, is well known in the classical music world. Her last album topped the Billboard classical chart. But this year, she recorded an album of music from Disney movies, and now it’s been been nominated for a Grammy for best pop instrumental album of the year, going up against the likes of Brian Setzer, Booker T and Dave Koz.”
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Washington Times
“Few would dispute that motherhood is a demanding job, and Jenny Oaks Baker is among its best practitioners.
She also happens to be one of the most accomplished violinists in America.
Trained at Juilliard, Baker has released ten albums to critical acclaim. Her latest, Wish Upon a Star: A Tribute to the Music of Walt Disney, is her first to be nominated by the Recording Academy, but it follows other commercial successes, including her previous album, Then Sings My Soul, which hit No. 1 on the Billboard Charts.
Her most important, and impressive work, however, is parenting her four children.”
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Washingtonian Magazine
“The life of a classical musician can often seem like more of a nightmare than a fairy tale, but if Washington is looking for a real-life local princess, it won’t do much better than Jenny Oaks Baker. The violinist, Virginia resident, and self-professed “soccer mom” who performed with the National Symphony Orchestra for seven years found out this week that her newest album has been nominated for a Grammy award in the Best Pop Instrumental Album category. And even more appropriately, the album, Wish Upon a Star, is a record of popular Disney songs, performed by Baker and arranged by Emmy-winning composer Kurt Bestor.”
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Fairfax Times
After her four children had fallen asleep, Jenny Oaks Baker logged online to the Grammy Awards’ website to see if she was among the artists nominated for the prestigious award.
Scrolling down the page she said, “I read after Lady Gaga’s and Katy Perry’s category, Jenny Oaks Baker,” Baker said, “I was so excited.”
Baker’s nomination for Best Pop Instrumental Album was announced Nov. 30 for her album “Wish Upon A Star: A Tribute to the Music of Walt Disney.”
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Deseret News
“It’s easy to tell that violinist Jenny Oaks Baker is all smiles over the news of her Grammy nomination — even in a quick conversation over the phone as she picked her 5-year-old up from preschool.
Baker’s latest album, “Wish Upon a Star: A Tribute to the Music of Walt Disney,” was nominated for a Grammy Award in the Best Pop Instrumental Album category Wednesday night.”
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LDS Living Magazine
“There’s a lot more work that goes into real-life fairy tales than one might think. Jenny Oaks Baker’s fairy tale–winning a Grammy nomination for the first time–is one of diligence and faith as she has striven to make all her wishes come true.”
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Meridian Magazine
“Jenny Oaks Baker, noted violinist, got word last week that she had been nominated for a Grammy Award for her album “Wish Upon a Star: A Tribute to the Music of Walt Disney,” in the Best Pop Instrumental Album category.
A Julliard graduate, she has been the first violinist in the National Symphony Orchestra and has released 10 best-selling albums with “Then Sings My Soul” hitting No. 1 on the Billboard Classical Charts.”
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WTOP 103.5 FM
After the Grammy Award nominations were announced in that extravagant televised concert special Wednesday night, the excitement took on a unique fever pitch in one house in Annandale.
It came when a mom and her two oldest kids checked the Grammys website for the nominations you don’t see on TV.
“Just as my husband was calling from Australia, he was on a business trip, I saw my name and we all started screaming,” says Jenny Oaks Baker, who just picked up a nomination for the music industry’s highest honor for her solo CD, “Wish Upon a Star.”
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Annandale Patch
Jenny Oaks Baker can’t wait for February. The violinist’s tenth album, “Wish Upon A Star,” has earned her a spot at the 54th Grammy Awards for Best Pop Instrumental Album. This is Baker’s first Grammy nomination.
“It’s a great album,” said the Annandale resident and mother of four. “I think if people listen to it, they’ll like it. Our oldest child is 10 and so for the past five years we’ve been living and breathing Disney. I love the magic of Disney, I love the message of Disney and I love the music of Disney so it came pretty naturally to want to do a Disney album.”
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BYU Daily Universe
Sometimes, when you wish upon a star, you end up with a Grammy nomination.
Jenny Oaks Baker, a popular LDS violinist, was nominated for a Grammy Award in the Best Pop Instrumental Album category for her album “Wish Upon a Star: A Tribute to the Music of Walt Disney.” The album is a compilation of classically arranged Disney staples, such as “Colors of the Wind” and “Beauty and the Beast.”
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Salt Lake Tribune
“…Utahns Google “Disney music” more than any other state.
That’s good news for Utah native Jenny Oaks Baker, her producer Kurt Bestor, and Shadow Mountain Records, one of the labels run by Deseret Book. The classically trained violinist’s newest album for Shadow Mountain Records, “Wish Upon a Star: A Tribute to the Music of Walt Disney,” was released earlier this month.”
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