Reginald J. H. Beales (October 10, 1898 – July 1, 1988) was an American violinist and music teacher. He began learning the violin at the age of eight and accompanied silent movies by the age of 14. He studied the violin under Michael Baxte in New York City. He moved to

Salt Lake City, Utah Salt Lake City (often shortened to Salt Lake and abbreviated as SLC) is the Capital (political), capital and List of cities and towns in Utah, most populous city of Utah, United States. It is the county seat, seat of Salt Lake County, Utah, Sal ...

, where he was a violin instructor at the

McCune School of Music McCune may refer to: * McCune (surname) * McCune, Kansas McCune is a city in Crawford County, Kansas, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population of the city was 370. History The first post office in McCune was established in August, ...

and an orchestra conductor at the American Theater. He managed the

Federal Music Project The Federal Music Project (FMP) was a part of the New Deal program Federal Project Number One provided by the U.S. federal government which employed musicians, conductors and composers during the Great Depression. In addition to performing thousan ...

in Utah in 1935 where he formed the Utah State Sinfonietta (later renamed the

Utah Symphony The Utah Symphony is an American orchestra based in Salt Lake City, Utah. The orchestra's principal venue is Abravanel Hall. In addition to its Salt Lake City subscription concerts, the orchestra travels around the Intermountain West serving c ...

). After losing funding for the orchestra after the Great Depression, Beales and others organized the Utah State Symphony Orchestra Association. Beales retired from teaching and performing in 1987. Beales was honored by the

University of Utah The University of Utah (U of U, UofU, or simply The U) is a public research university in Salt Lake City, Utah. It is the flagship institution of the Utah System of Higher Education. The university was established in 1850 as the University of De ...

and Utah governor Calvin L. Rampton for his musical contributions. By the time of his death, he was described as "one of Utah's most distinguished musicians" in the ''

Deseret News The ''Deseret News'' () is the oldest continuously operating publication in the American west. Its multi-platform products feature journalism and commentary across the fields of politics, culture, family life, faith, sports, and entertainment. Th ...

''. His musical scores are in the

Harold B. Lee Library The Harold B. Lee Library (HBLL) is the main academic library of Brigham Young University (BYU) located in Provo, Utah. The library started as a small collection of books in the president's office in 1876 before moving in 1891. The Heber J. Gran ...

Brigham Young University Brigham Young University (BYU, sometimes referred to colloquially as The Y) is a private research university in Provo, Utah. It was founded in 1875 by religious leader Brigham Young and is sponsored by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day ...

. In his personal life, Beales married Mesia Jenson in 1923. He was a member of the

Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, informally known as the LDS Church or Mormon Church, is a nontrinitarian Christian church that considers itself to be the restoration of the original church founded by Jesus Christ. The c ...

Biography

Born in

Bradford Bradford is a city and the administrative centre of the City of Bradford district in West Yorkshire, England. The city is in the Pennines' eastern foothills on the banks of the Bradford Beck. Bradford had a population of 349,561 at the 2011 ...

, Beales started learning the

violin The violin, sometimes known as a ''fiddle'', is a wooden chordophone (string instrument) in the violin family. Most violins have a hollow wooden body. It is the smallest and thus highest-pitched instrument (soprano) in the family in regular ...

when he was eight. By the age of 14, he had a job playing music to accompany

silent movies A silent film is a film with no synchronized recorded sound (or more generally, no audible dialogue). Though silent films convey narrative and emotion visually, various plot elements (such as a setting or era) or key lines of dialogue may, when ...

. He also studied the violin in New York, taught by Michael Baxte. Beales was passionate about the violin throughout his life. After moving to Utah, he married Mesia Jensen in Salt Lake City in 1923 and had six children. In Utah, he worked as a violin instructor at the

. He also conducted the orchestra at the American Theater in Salt Lake City. Beales converted to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints while living in Bradford and emigrated to the United States, where he was selected to manage the

in Utah during the

Great Depression The Great Depression (19291939) was an economic shock that impacted most countries across the world. It was a period of economic depression that became evident after a major fall in stock prices in the United States. The economic contagio ...

in 1935. Under Beales' direction, the project formed the Utah State Sinfonietta, also known as the

WPA WPA may refer to: Computing *Wi-Fi Protected Access, a wireless encryption standard *Windows Product Activation, in Microsoft software licensing * Wireless Public Alerting (Alert Ready), emergency alerts over LTE in Canada * Windows Performance An ...

orchestra, which performed over 1,000 concerts for the state of Utah within five years. During this time, Beales continued directing the group and conducting the orchestra. He also performed as a soloist. The orchestra performed for schools, at the capitol building, in the LDS assembly hall, and at

Memory Grove Memory Grove, formerly known as Memory Park and sometimes called Memory Grove Park, is a park in Salt Lake City, Utah, United States. Established as a war memorial at the mouth of City Creek Canyon in 1924, the park "spawned a long tradition of su ...

. When federal funds no longer supported the orchestra after the Great Depression, Beales and other people in the community organized the Utah State Symphony Orchestra Association through the Utah State Institute of Fine Arts so that the group could continue performing. The orchestra was renamed the

in 1946. He spent time as a

missionary A missionary is a member of a Religious denomination, religious group which is sent into an area in order to promote its faith or provide services to people, such as education, literacy, social justice, health care, and economic development.Tho ...

for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in the United States as a young man and in Scotland later in life. Beales retired in 1987 after playing in concerts and on radio programs for many years, as well as teaching violin throughout his career.

Legacy

Governor Calvin L. Rampton and the

both honored Beales for his contributions to music in Utah. The Utah Symphony, with its roots in Beales' WPA orchestra, still performs in Utah today. The L. Tom Perry Special Collections at Brigham Young University hold original manuscripts by Reginald Beales, including "Bless Me with Faith" and "Leola", as well as published scores collected and used by the WPA orchestra. Beales holds the copyright for the songs "My Heart Has a Song Just For You" and "White Crosses in the Moonlight".

References

External links

Reginald Beales scores
L. Tom Perry Special Collections, Harold B. Lee Library, Brigham Young University
Home – Utah Symphony
{{DEFAULTSORT:Beales, Reginald 1898 births 1988 deaths Musicians from Bradford English emigrants to the United States Musicians from Utah American music educators American violinists 20th-century violinists Harold B. Lee Library-related music articles Latter Day Saint artists