Scott Moore was born and came of age in rural Kentucky. He began his career as a violinist and composer as a four-year-old in New York. He's been a soloist with a number of orchestras, played Mozart for the Archduke of Austria, and given an impromptu recital in Carnegie Hall for an audience of ghosts. He's been an organic farmer and a professional driver, learned fiddle tunes from old-timers in the hills of eastern Kentucky, drunk bourbon with rock stars on a steam-powered riverboat, and played music on four continents.
Ever a proud Kentuckian, in fall of 2019 Scott began a new chapter as a resident of New England. He is currently Concertmaster of the Cape Ann Symphony and Symphony by the Sea, and Acting Concertmaster at Lexington (MA) Symphony. Since 2022 he has been Artist-in-Residence at the Annisquam Village Church, where his growing portfolio includes solo and group performances across a range of genres and media. With his wife, Erica Pisaturo, he operates Open String Recordings, drawing on long experience as a session musician to provide creative, professional string arrangements for clients including bands and solo artists, composers, and filmmakers. He is a founding member of the Lobster Cove String Quartet, established in 2023.
An enthusiastic collaborator on stage and in the recording studio, Scott has forged a reputation as a skillful and inventive musician unbound by genre. His versatility, imagination, and unique artistic voice have made him a performer and creator in growing demand.
"Staggeringly versatile and gifted" (LEO Weekly), he has built a formidable reputation for "skillful and inventive fiddle playing" (Country Music People) and a "stand-out" (Wildy's World) approach as a performer, composer, and studio musician unbound by genre—alone, and in collaboration with folks like Jim James (My Morning Jacket), Will Oldham (Bonnie “Prince” Billy), Mark Erelli, Houndmouth, Ben Sollee, Tyler Ramsey, Strand of Oaks, Elizabeth Ziman (Elizabeth & the Catapult), Jake Shears (Scissor Sisters), Daniel Martin Moore, Dawn Landes, Basia Bulat, Goldmund, Waxfang, the Clements Brothers, and countless others.
Recent seasons trace an exciting arc, with appearances running the gamut from contemporary classical to rock, bluegrass, and beyond. These include a handful of solo engagements with the Louisville Orchestra and extensive collaboration with LO music director Teddy Abrams, who hails Scott’s “great talent and inventiveness…virtuosic musicianship with a powerful, compelling sound.” Ongoing work with pianist-composer Rachel Grimes includes several albums and performances like WNYC’s Soundcheck, NPR’s Performance Today, and two stints at Knoxville’s Big Ears Festival.
As a longtime member of the 23 String Band, he has performed across the country as a crowd favorite at festivals like Rockygrass, Grey Fox, Forecastle, ROMP, Festival of the Bluegrass, and many more. He has also recorded two as-yet-unreleased albums with his own band, blurring the lines between acoustic and electric back porch folk and vintage rock-n-roll.
In 2018, he began performing, from memory, the complete Sonatas and Partitas for Solo Violin by J. S. Bach—nearly three hours of some of the most incredible music ever conceived.
He plays a violin by Joseph Calot, Paris circa 1815, and a five-string violin by Barry Dudley, made in 2009.