Today we’d like to introduce you to Scott Laird.
Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
I grew up in Western Pennsylvania and started playing the violin when I was 6 years old. My parents were teachers and when it came time to decide on a career path, they encouraged me to consider music education. I have spent 40 years teaching in public music education: 6 years in Palmyra PA, near Hershey; 9 years at Eleanor Roosevelt High School in the Washington DC suburbs, and 25 years in Durham at the North Carolina School of Science and Math. I have been fortunate to have many opportunities in the music world both as a performer and as a teacher. Many people know my work as an electric violinist with the progressive metal group, Believer. I have conducted all-state orchestras and honors groups all over the United States. My work at NCSSM has been quite rich. I have had the opportunity to open our new campus in Morganton and have a great deal of influence on the arts culture at our school as Fine Arts Chair. I am also a founding board member for KidzNotes and have invested a great deal of time and energy in nonprofit leadership over the years. I’m excited to begin a new phase of my career starting in July as a fully independent-contractor musician as a violinist, conductor, and educational consultant.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Certainly everyone has challenges. I started my career with big dreams. I knew that I wanted to establish a reputation as a strong teacher and as an orchestral conductor. Obviously, everyone starts small. I remember an important conversation I had with a role model back in the late 1980s. She told me that the key to getting started is to write my ideas and work to get published. She encouraged me to submit my writing to education journals. I followed her advice and started to get conducting and other music teaching offers almost immediately. I would expand on her advice and encourage people to share their ideas in any format. Today we have so many opportunities to share our ideas through social media, web formats, in addition to print and other media.
There have been other struggles as well. I have learned that when you share your ideas freely, there will always be detractors. I have certainly made a few missteps along the way and have learned from my mistakes. The key is not letting small failures or setbacks overwhelm you or get in the way of long-term success. Everything is part of the learning process. My son had a baseball coach years ago who would frequently say, “It’s not what you do, it’s what you do next.” I really believe in that philosophy. When things don’t go well, brush yourself off and make the next plan.
As a teacher, there have certainly been financial struggles as well. When we first came to North Carolina, it really was a struggle to make ends meet as a teacher. In fact, I started interviewing in other states within a year or two of coming here. I realized quickly that I didn’t want to be anywhere other than NCSSM. So, I had to figure out how to make a little more money. The National Board Certification benefit for teachers in North Carolina is a game changer. I achieved National Board Certification in 2004 and have maintained that certification ever since. That really, for my family, was the difference between making ends meet and real financial struggles.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
For the past 25 years I have been the Orchestra Conductor and Chair of Fine Arts (Art, Music, and Theater) at the North Carolina School of Science and Math. I am primarily known as a string educator and conductor as well as a violinist and multi-instrumentalist. I have a variety of interests and areas of musical expertise. I am known as a performer and teacher in both the classical world and the improvisatory world. Interestingly, I will be retiring from NCSSM in July and moving into a full-time self-employed musician role. I plan to do a great deal of performing in our region as a violinist. I frequently play for weddings and provide special music for church services as a classical musician. I also perform on electric violin in rock and folk genres and am super comfortable in recording settings and club venues.
Many older folks remember me as the violinist from the progressive metal band, Believer. I did a number of records with Believer back in the late 80s and early 90s. We were known as a groundbreaking act that incorporated orchestral and operatic sounds with progressive thrash metal. We were nominated for a Dove award in 1993 and our third album, Dimensions, received critical acclaim. More recently, I have done a great deal of live performing using looping technology with electric violin, acoustic guitar, and bass guitar. I do original music that is based around the looping concept in a live setting.
I believe that the breadth of my experience as a teacher and performer in so many genres and styles gives me a unique perspective on all of the types of performances I engage in. I bring much of my non-traditional music experience into the classical music classroom and much of the classical music experience into the improvisatory arena. This really sets me apart from many other conductors and violinists. I am also quite interested in interdisciplinary teaching experiences that involve music along with other subjects. In the past, I have worked with instructors in other disciplines at NCSSM including Neuroscience, Physics, Computational Science, World Language, and American Studies. I love bringing various academic areas together for a deeper learning experience.
Can you talk to us a bit about happiness and what makes you happy?
First of all, I love this question. I always ask students for whom I am writing college recommendations this very question.
I love to be creative. I really thrive on accomplishing creative tasks. This could involve practicing my instruments, performing, studying a score, writing or recording music, or writing an article. I find a great deal of satisfaction in accomplishing creative tasks.
I also truly love accomplishing tasks. These may or may not be creative, but there’s something that makes me quite happy about checking tasks off of a list. This has served me well as a department chair at NCSSM because there are always more tasks to complete in my role. This also impacts my personal life. I love to get up on a Saturday and have a list of tasks that need to be accomplished. This could include taking a hike, riding my bike, reading an article, working in the yard, reading a book,or some other seemingly mundane task. But, when it is on my to-do list, I love getting things done.
Finally, celebrating the accomplishments of my growing family really makes me and my wife happy. I have three adult sons who are early in each of their careers. It gives me so much joy to watch them thrive and experience early success in their lives and careers. Two of them got married this past summer and I feel the same way about their wives.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/orchestra.guy/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/scott.laird
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/scott-laird-a1786622/
- Twitter: https://x.com/Orchestraguy
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@scottlaird916
- Other: https://ncssmstrings.blogspot.com/
