Betty Scott, 81, established the Artists in Residence program at Strathmore Music Center in North Bethesda, Maryland, 20 years ago. She continues to direct the program, helping young singers, musicians and composers learn the skills to succeed in their careers. Her artists say, “We can barely keep up with her.” Photo by Ceylon Mitchell, M3 Mitchell Media & Marketing

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When Betty Scott retired after nearly 40 years of teaching music to Prince George’s County elementary school students, she didn’t stop molding young musicians.

Instead, she began a new career launching and directing the Artists in Residence (AIR) program at Strathmore Music Center in North Bethesda, Maryland.

Even now, 20 years later at age 81, she welcomes a new cohort of young singers, musicians and composers to the program each year.

“It was a wonderfully serendipitous career shift, in that I could continue to be a mentor and encourage explorations in a lot of exciting ways,” Scott said.

“Both of my careers have allowed me to hang out with young people. It’s huge with keeping me engaged with what’s going on and looking at things through their eyes,” she said.

A ‘mother hen’

Each year, the program selects six Washington-Baltimore area musicians ages 16 to 32. They’re paired with a music mentor and attend workshops in self-promotion, band leading, job interviewing and other skills that can help them succeed in the music industry.

All the while, Scott not only helps them shape their musical talent, but also network and gather information about possible performance opportunities. In short, she serves as a cheerleader for their careers.

Despite an age difference with her artists of half a century or more, Scott said, “We really are on the same wavelength.”

Cellist and composer Erin Murphy Snedecor, a 2023 participant, said Scott inspires artists at every stage.

“She is the mother hen that seeks us out and brings us into the community. She pokes and pushes us to do the things we have to do, and cheers us on to do the things we dream of doing in a way only someone with her experience and persistence can,” she said.

Scott’s age is not seen as a drawback. In fact, it’s a positive: “Betty has the wisdom of someone who has lived through so much and seen so much of the world,” Snedecor said.

“But at any age, Betty has too much energy, joy and spirit to do anything other than work with young artists. We can barely keep up with her.”

Started young herself

Scott, a West Virginia native, traces her 60-year career in music back to the day her older brother gave up on learning to play the piano her parents had bought.

She was in first grade at the time, and seized the opportunity: “Me, me, me, I’ll take the piano,” Scott said.

She started thinking about becoming a music teacher when she was in high school.

“The big turning point for me really becoming a music educator was the all-girls’ a cappella choir in high school. I loved it so much. The teacher was fabulous…like a role model,” Scott recalled.

She chose a career in elementary music education even though her supervisors pressed her to teach in a middle or high school.

Instead, she reasoned, “I really want them at an age when their minds are so open [I can] expose them to all types of music and for them to say, ‘This is cool.’”

Never one to shy away from a challenge, she helped her young charges put on Broadway musicals like The King and I and Fiddler on the Roof each year.

Her work with the Maryland Boychoir helped garner her a Grammy in 2000 for Best Choral Performance. The gramophone statuette sits in the living room of her Silver Spring home.

A change of direction

After teaching for 35 years at University Park Elementary School in Hyattsville, Scott decided it was time to find a new challenge.

She found it when she drove past the construction of the Strathmore Music Center 20 years ago. Intrigued, she immediately asked if she could volunteer or work there part-time.

She created her first resume in 40 years, applied and was hired to launch their AIR program. Since the program began, there have been 118 participants, many of whom are still in contact with Scott.

Pop vocalist Be Steadwell, who was one of the artists in 2016, said, “All these years later, Betty is still looking out for us, helping us with gigs and making connections.”

Cellist Snedecor noted that Scott is “a force to be reckoned with. I adored meeting someone who expected as much of me as I did. She sets the bar so high and gives you all the tools to do what you want to do.”

Adventures around the world

Scott’s adventurous spirit gave her an edge as she shaped a brand-new program.

“Starting a new career at Strathmore tied into my sense of adventure and exploration. That’s really intriguing to me in all aspects of life,” said Scott, who bicycled across the country in her late 40s, and last year drove, mostly solo, from Maryland to Washington state.

Her husband, Jim, who passed away nine years ago, helped spur her adventurous travel. The couple’s cross-country bike trip was “life-altering,” she said.

“I loved every morning and was so excited to see what was over the next hill or curve,” Scott said of that trip. “To my grave, that will be my best adventure because it was such a challenge.

“It was just the two of us, with no cell phones, pedaling 65 miles a day, seeing the country so up-close and personal.”

Scott, who is now considering a trip to Morocco, said her approach to life is something that she found reflected in a New York Times article titled “Three steps to age exuberantly,” published last year.

The article advises readers to think positively but accept setbacks, surround yourself with young people, and say “yes” whenever possible.

“That really captured the way I’ve lived my life,” Scott said. “In particular, a positive attitude is something fortunately in my DNA.

“I was raised in a house where that was the general MO. I do look at things through a very positive lens, and that has made a big difference.”