About Us
Skydance String Quartet
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Scotty Scott
Viola
Violist, Scotty Scott, is an Oklahoma-City based teacher and performer. He is currently earning his Master’s Degree in Instrumental Performance at Oklahoma City University while also teaching Viola Instrumental Class at El Sistema, providing music education for budding young violists along with teaching his private students. While in his undergrad, Scotty was again awarded a full tuition scholarship to attend OCU. As a sophomore, he was selected to be the violist in the Graduate String Quartet, a position that he would hold through his senior year. Playing in the Graduate String Quartet was an immeasurable experience that allowed his love for chamber music to blossom. During this time, Scotty also earned the principal viola position in OCU’s Symphony orchestra. Scotty has performed with Oklahoma Virtuosi, Oklahoma Chamber Orchestra, Oklahoma Haydn Festival, OKMozart and the Amici New York Orchestra. He currently holds the principal violist position in the Oklahoma Composer’s Orchestra of the OKMMC. An Arkansas native, he has performed with both Symphony of Northwest Arkansas (SoNA) and Fort Smith Symphony. A lover of both opera and playing in pit orchestras, he is the current principal of Painted Sky Opera and has had the honor of performing in over 20 operas and musicals. In Fall 2022, Scotty was selected as the String Area Representative for the National Association for Schools of Music (NASM) recertification recital— a huge honor as the school was approved for recertification.
Danielle Szabo
Violin
Danielle Szabo is a professional violinist and vocalist in Oklahoma City. Originally from San Jose, CA, Mrs. Szabo attended Oklahoma City University and received her B.M. in Music Theatre and her M.M. in Violin Performance. While at OCU, Szabo received the prestigious Presser Award for “a high level of academic and musical accomplishment and for contributing earnestly to the success of the school of music.” She performed such roles as “Queen of the Night” in Mozart’s Magic Flute and “Claudia” in Maury Yeston’s Nine. She was concertmaster of the OCU Symphonic Orchestra throughout her six years at the university, and went on to pursue a career in music performance and education. Szabo is currently the concertmaster of Painted Sky Opera here in OKC, and has performed with Oklahoma Virtuosi Chamber Orchestra, Fort Smith Symphony, Enid Symphony, Tactus Chamber Orchestra & Vocal Ensemble, Americana Roots band “Clifftop,” and OKC orchestral dream punk band “stepmom.” She runs a thriving violin studio out of her home and enjoys playing in her celctic band, “Irish Breakfast Club,” and American-Scandinavian folk band, “Rauland.”
Chazlen Rook
violin
Chazlen Rook is a violinist with a BM in String Performance from the University of Central Oklahoma. She is also a private violin instructor and composition teacher at El Sistema, an after school music program in Oklahoma City. She is a member of Stringsmen, an ensemble offering a wide variety of original pop arrangements and classical pieces, and Rauland, an American-Scandinavian folk band that uses a mixture of traditional and eccentric instruments. Chazlen has also performed with the Painted Sky Opera Company, Enid Symphony, Michael Bublé, Josh Groban, and a variety of unique local and regional productions.
Integral to Chazlen’s involvements in the arts is social justice, history, community building, storytelling, and learning new perspectives.
She expresses these values through experimental sound art performance, interdisciplinary productions, involvement with non-profits, collaborating with local artists and musicians, and performing for special events such as weddings, birthdays, or other private events.
Jose P. Palacios
cello
Jose P. Palacios is a Mexican-American cellist in the Oklahoma City Metropolitan Area. He began his studies in cello in 2001; Palacios graduated from the Southern Nazarene University with a Bachelor of Music in 2013 and from the Oklahoma City University with a Master of Music in 2015. During his studies he was the winner of the OCU concerto competition in 2014 and the Robert Hale Scholarship competition at SNU in 2011. As a professional, Palacios is a versatile cellist. He performs with the Fort Smith Symphony Orchestra, Oklahoma Virtuosi Chamber Orchestra, and is a substitute for the Oklahoma City Philharmonic Orchestra; he also has performed with the Lawton Philharmonic Orchestra and the Painted Sky Opera. Palacios performs with different pop and rock artists and recording in various music studios.