Tell me a little bit about your childhood and how you discovered the violin.
When I was little, we lived in a trailer in the woods on the border of northern Wisconsin. My upbringing was everything you could probably imagine as the antithesis of the classical musician.

 

My family did a lot of wood chopping, hunting and fishing. Then when I was a little older, we moved to Wausau, Wisconsin. That community had a wonderful music program—very similar to what we have here in Great Falls. In fact I think part of what made this position so attractive to me were the similarities between my hometown and here. I have a special affinity for the Great Falls Public School system because I know what a music program like this can provide for a child that grows up in a family like mine.

In fifth grade, the school orchestra teachers came around the elementary schools with all of these instruments, and we could choose to play one of them. I wanted to play the cello, but because of its large size, I wouldn’t have been able to ride the bus, so I “settled” for the violin. I remember the first time I picked up the violin and ran the bow across the string. It was like I had been struck by lightning. Nothing was ever going to be the same for me after that! There were, of course, other things I had wanted to do as a little girl like being a ballerina or a scientist, but when I touched the violin for the first time, it was all over. I didn’t have any idea what it meant to be a professional violinist, so I just practiced a lot at home and auditioned for the local youth orchestra. One of the private music teachers, Paula Beard, to whom I owe my life, scooped me up under her wing and took care of me.

 

She helped me find the resources I needed to take music lessons because my family couldn’t afford them, and she helped me get a better violin by finding a generous donor who paid for a portion of it. I got a job selling shoes at JC Penney to pay off the rest of it. In short, I had a lot of help along the way. Ironically, my first teacher was a member of the same quartet that Thad Suits was a part of in Minnesota before he moved to Montana, so they played chamber music together when I would have been in diapers, and then they both ended up having this profound impact in my life.

The first time I touched the violin I knew that is what I wanted to do, and it was through the grace and support of some generous people in my hometown that this dream of mine became a reality. A lot of times string players start music lessons at a very young age, and that wasn’t an option in my family. Today I am still determined to “catch up.”

Well, I think you’ve done an excellent job of “catching up” if that’s what you want to call it!
I sometimes feel like I still have major underdog syndrome. When I was a teenager, it was so easy for me to get discouraged and say, “Well, what if I had been provided the opportunity to study music at a younger age, just think about how much farther along I would be by now,” and I didn’t realize at the time how much of a blessing it was going to be for me that I had the experience that I did because it really provided a way for me to connect with and relate to the kids in Great Falls so that I could help them develop their talent when they get bit by the classical music “bug.” Oftentimes kids here are the same age and developmental stage I was when I was introduced to music, and they haven’t had access to music lessons since the age of four or five. I have had students who have grown up through the public school music program who have then gone on to audition for the Great Falls Symphony and have their own music studios. There is nothing more gratifying than to see that happen.

You have a unique ability to inspire our kids to work hard because your testimony is proof that you can make it as a professional musician even if you weren’t a child prodigy. What do you think are the most important factors in keeping music alive in a community like Great Falls?
Just like with the Shop Local movement, what makes the Great Falls Symphony so special is the fact that it is the Great Falls Symphony. One of the realities of orchestras across America in mid-sized cities and towns is that a lot of the members don’t live in the local area. My first music job was with the Green Bay Symphony. I did not live in Green Bay, so I commuted to Green Bay to rehearse and perform—as did about 75% of the orchestra. When the Green Bay community learned that their symphony was not local to their community, there was a lot of backlash. The Green Bay Civic Orchestra was formed in response to this, and only members of the Green Bay community were permitted to perform in that ensemble. Sadly, the professional Green Bay Symphony folded after 101 years. That was really devastating for me to watch, but it was also a stark reality check that what makes our organization so special is that it is completely rooted in Great Falls. This is really unique! It hardly exists anywhere else in the country. For large orchestras like the Chicago Symphony, if you win an audition, you move to live in Chicago and you assimilate to the area, but here, we have a very rare melting pot of nine professional musicians including myself, who have won auditions, moved here and planted roots here, and the rest of the members of the orchestra have embraced us into their community. Our unique makeup is something we should all be very proud of.

 

We are actively keeping ourselves alive and thriving through our partnership with the Great Falls Public School’s music program and through our Youth Orchestra programs. They act as feeder programs for our professional orchestra and many of the musicians and staff members involved in the symphony today have participated in the Youth Orchestra. My plea to parents is to be intentional about supporting your children’s love of music by getting them involved in the Youth Orchestra and by providing private music lessons for them. Someday they may be in the symphony!