Name: Jacinda Bouton

Age: 41

Occupation: Music director/conductor for the Lone Tree Symphony Orchestra since its inception in 2000

Home: Resident of Lone Tree for 15 years

Experience: Although her parents were not musically inclined, they felt it was important for their children to learn about music. Bouton began playing piano at age 8, and later took up the clarinet and was a drum major in her high school band. After graduating from Southwest Missouri State University with a degree in music education, she taught music programs at George Washington High School in Denver and served as director of the Denver Junior Police Band.

In addition to her gig as conductor of the Lone Tree Symphony Orchestra, Bouton leads the Denver Concert Band, an 85-piece ensemble that plays at various festivals in the Denver area.

Favorites: Bouton favors jazz and classical music, particularly romantic pieces and anything written by Czech composer Antonin Dvorak.

Family: Her husband, Art, is an accomplished jazz musician who teaches saxophone at the University of Denver and performs all over the metro area. He recently sat in on a Lone Tree Symphony Orchestra concert dedicated to fallen heroes. “He knows what he is doing,” Bouton says.

Bouton’s two stepdaughters are also musical. One plays piccolo with the Virginia Symphony Orchestra and the other works with an orchestra group in Oklahoma City. Family gatherings are occasionally punctuated by flute duets with vocal accompaniment.

Duties: Bouton works with individual musicians or sections to perfect the more challenging parts of the songs. During once-a-week rehearsals with the volunteer musicians, she focuses on “rhythms and phrases,” and on stage, helps guide the music and indicate important cues.

Why she does it: Being a conductor is the fulfillment of a lifelong dream to be involved in music professionally. Bouton feeds off the energy of the audience and the musicians she directs. She has seen audience members emotionally moved by performances. Bouton admits she sometimes becomes lost in the beauty of the music, but remains calm because she knows she must focus on the many intricate parts of a musical number.

“I try to shape the music and make it expressive,” she says. “It’s more than just playing notes on a page.”

Looking forward: This is typically the time of year when the concert season wraps up, but the Lone Tree Symphony Orchestra will bring its enchanting sounds to the Highlands Ranch Music Festival at 5 p.m. May 16 at Civic Green Park. The 50-piece orchestra is also scheduled to play a show — with real cannons — at 7:30 p.m. July 24 at Sweetwater Park in Lone Tree.

Bouton is eager to settle into the orchestra’s new home: the Lone Tree Cultural Arts Center, a 500-seat auditorium under construction southeast of Lincoln Avenue and RidgeGate Parkway. It is expected to open in 2011.

She hopes to remain on the stage for years to come.

“I hope I do this for rest of life,” she says. “It’s my passion.”