McLEAN, Va. — When strangers see Jenny Oaks Baker with her four young children, she's frequently mistaken for their nanny or older sister.
"Are all these kids yours?" they ask the 34-year-old, who has spent seven years as first-chair violinist of the National Symphony Orchestra in Washington, D.C.
But to her kids, she's Mom.
Baker, whose credits also include performing at Carnegie Hall, the Lincoln Center and the Library of Congress, is cutting back on her performing schedule to help her children develop their own musical talents. In early 2007, Baker announced her decision to retire from the National Symphony Orchestra.
She's also been guest soloist with the Jerusalem Symphony, the Orchestra at Temple Square and the Mormon Tabernacle Choir. But she felt her family needed more of her time.
Baker works hard to balance the roles of musician and mother to Laura June, 8; Hannah Jean, 6; Sarah Noelle, 4; and Matthew Dallin, 2. A lifelong Latter-day Saint, the super-busy violinist credits her own skills in planning and organizing as well as Heavenly Father's help in accomplishing all she does.
"I do all I can," she says, "and Heavenly Father makes up the difference."
Despite spending eight weeks away from their home in northern Virginia this summer, no one in the family took a vacation from their musical instruments. Baker taught at the Intermountain Suzuki String Institute and made sure her girls put in adequate daily practice time in addition to visiting with family and sightseeing.
The Bakers take a violin and small cello along on trips and arrange in advance to use a piano at a church meetinghouse or someone's home. Baker sets aside four hours a day for the children's practice and fits in extra time for her own when she has a concert coming up.
"They know they practice, then we play," she says. "You can make it work if it's a priority, and for our family, music is a priority."
She adds that her husband, Matt, is good at "pitching in" and sits with Hannah at the piano for an hour and a half each day.
While in Utah this summer, Baker finished recording an album — her ninth since 1998 — on the Shadow Mountain label, produced by Deseret Book. Sam Cardon's arrangements enhance the collection of hymns and sacred music. "Then Sings My Soul" is planned for release next March.
Released earlier this year was "Silver Screen Serenade," movie themes with orchestral arrangements by Kurt Bestor. Both albums were recorded in Salt Lake City.
"I've been blessed to work with the best of the best," she says.
Baker was delighted when her seventh album, "O Holy Night," landed at No. 7 on the national Billboard classical charts the first week of November in 2007, followed by Yo-Yo Ma at No. 8 and Joshua Bell at No. 9. Her albums have sold more than 100,000 copies and won numerous Pearl awards from the Faith-Centered Music Association.
"I love recording," she says. "It gives me a way to perform and still be home with my kids."
She's also a presenter at Time Out for Women programs around the country and has a few concert opportunities on the East Coast.
The youngest daughter of Elder Dallin and June Oaks, Jenny was born in Provo while her father was president of BYU.
She got an early start with the Suzuki violin method at age 4. That, combined with a lot of practice at her mother's knee, led to her first performance as a youth soloist with the Utah Valley Symphony at age 8.
Years later, in the fall of 1998, she performed the Brahms Violin Concerto with the symphony, shortly after the death of her mother.
Baker 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. She spent summer terms at BYU, at both the Provo campus and the Jerusalem Center.
Baker recently performed at a fireside sponsored by the LDS institute of religion that serves the northern Virginia area. It was a fitting setting for her, since she met her husband at a singles ward in Manhattan in August 1997. He was a visiting soon-to-be Utah State University graduate who was interviewing for jobs.
She considers that meeting a miracle because her mother had just been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer and wanted her daughter to be taken care of before she passed away.
"Matt and I met on the day our family was having a special fast for my mom," she said. "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.
In tribute, she titled her second CD "Songs My Mother Taught Me."