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Principal Trumpet Scott MacQuarrie  gave us the scoop on his involvement with the ESO and how he got started... 

How long have you played with ESO?

22 years!

What instrument do you play and how did you gravitate to that instrument?

Trumpet. My parents didn’t want to listen to rock and roll drumming. And there was an old trumpet in the closet. 

What piece is on your bucket list to play with ESO and why?

Prokofiev Lt. Kije. I’ve never played it and, on the Fritz Reiner Chicago Symphony Orchestra recording, Adolph Herseth plays some of the most beautiful trumpet solos ever recorded. I want the chance to pay him tribute. 

Biography

Scott MacQuarrie grew up in the mountains of Montana near Glacier Park and learned to play trumpet in the excellent Missoula public school music programs. He earned performance and music education degrees at Washington State University in Pullman. After completing his Masters at the University of Southern California, Scott freelanced as a performer and teacher in Los Angeles. 

He then moved to Chicago to study with members of the renowned Chicago Symphony brass section, and to perform in the Civic Orchestra of Chicago, under conductors Daniel Barenboim, Pierre Boulez, and Sir Georg Solti. He was appointed Principal Trumpet in the Elmhurst Symphony in 2001.

In addition to trumpet playing, Scott has made a career as a learning solution architect and instructional designer in academia and Corporate America. 

He also enjoys training for triathlons, studying Jungian psychology, movies, composing, and sipping high end spirits – not necessarily in that order. Scott and his wife, Anne, who is Orchestra Personnel Manager of the Chicago Symphony and a new cellist in the ESO, are now empty nesters in Glenview. They love visiting their daughters and family in Wisconsin, Indiana, California, and Washington State, where Scott can watch the sunset on the Puget Sound and practice outside without bothering anyone.