Scott Foglesong

Scott Foglesong headshot

Contact

Office 306

415-503-6244

Departments

Music Theory and Musicianship
Technology and Applied Composition

Courses Taught

Undergraduate Musicianship

Advanced Musicianship

Advanced Analysis

Education

MM, San Francisco Conservatory of Music

BM, San Francisco Conservatory of Music

Ensembles

Amor Musica Chamber Players

Chrysanthemum Ragtime Band

Awards and Distinctions

Sarlo Foundation Award for Excellence in Teaching, San Francisco Conservatory of Music, 2008

Barbara K. Fromm Chair in Classical Music, University of San Francisco

Foglesong’s advance preparation, humor, and ability to connect are a model that should properly be supported as a performing art…”

— San Francisco Classical Voice

Q&A

What is your hometown?

Houston, TX

What is your favorite recording?

Far too many to identify an individual example.

What are you passionate about outside of music?

My home and its evolution.

Who were your major teachers?

Elizabeth Katzenellenbogen (Peabody Conservatory), Nathan Schwartz (San Francisco Conservatory), and Laurette Goldberg (San Francisco Conservatory).

What is a favorite quote that you repeatedly tell students?

“It's all lines and spaces, just lines and spaces!”

What question do you wish students would ask sooner rather than later?

“What are some of the most efficient ways to practice?”

What was the defining moment when you decided to pursue music as a career?

I have known that since I was four years old; there was no single defining moment.

What was a turning point in your career?

Coming to recognize myself as an effective and engaging speaker and writer on music, in addition to being a pianist and teacher.

If you weren't a musician or teacher, what do you think you would be doing now?

Probably a career in the software industry.

What is your daily practice routine?

I study and write, plan lectures and presentations, rather than practice.

If you could play only three composers for the rest of your life, who would they be?

Haydn, Brahms, and Debussy.

From a music history perspective, what year and city are most important to you?

Vienna, 1770s through the 1790s.

What are your most important collaborations?

David Conte and the San Francisco Symphony Centennial.

Who are three students you have had the privilege of teaching?

Aaron Jay Kernis, Gyan Riley, and Teddy Abrams.

What recordings can we hear you on?

David Conte - Fantasy for Solo Piano, David Conte

Herbert Blomstedt: The San Francisco Years, Decca

Berlioz Nuits d'Ete, Philharmonia Baroque

Haydn Symphonies, Philharmonia Baroque

Keeping Score Companions, SFS Media

Biography

Scott Foglesong is a pianist, musician, teacher, writer, cat-lover, music history devotée, occasional computer geek and sometime programmer. In 2008 he was named recipient of the Sarlo Family Foundation Award for excellence in teaching. In addition to SFCM, he teaches at the Fall Freshman program at UC Berkeley and the Fromm Institute at the University of San Francisco. He is associated with the San Francisco Symphony, both as a Contributing Writer and as an “Inside Music” lecturer for the Symphony’s weekly subscription concerts, and is Program Annotator for California Symphony, Las Vegas Philharmonic, San Luis Obispo Symphony, New Hampshire Music Festival, Left Coast Chamber Ensemble, and Chora Nova. Professor Foglesong was formally educated at the Peabody Conservatory in Baltimore and the San Francisco Conservatory, but his informal education continues everywhere, without cease.

Events