To make one's living as a violinist/violin teacher requires a number of fortuitous steps that probably need to happen in a particular order. This is my particular journey.....
It helps to have a dominant parent to guide and promote your musical growth. In my case it was my father who loved music but chose being a missionary to India/pastor in America as his profession. He played violin as a hobby. I was the first born child and some of my earliest memories are of hearing him play his violin in our living room at our home in Umalla, India.
My story begins at Prospect Point the vacation home for Church of the Brethren missionaries near Sisters Bazaar in Landour/Mussoorie, in the foothills of the Himalayas. I was recovering from chicken pox and my Dad gave me a half size violin he had purchased in Mussoorie. There was no bow yet
. "See if you can pluck out Twinkle Star."he suggested.
I was six years old, but according to family lore he observed that I spent nearly an hour before somewhat succeeding at the task. Soon a bow was added and he began sessions where I learned tunes by rote, a system like the Suzuki method before there was such.
The family returned to the work at Umalla and my Dad designed rote lessons for a while. Next he introduced the onerous lessons where one had to read the notes. I balked at that but he kindly insisted. He picked easy familiar tunes such as hymns and ditties.
From them he introduced me to the Kalliwoda duets. We moved to Anklesvar, and a Bollinger family whose teen age son, Dick, who played violin quite well would occasionally visit and make music with Dad. There was also a trip to Mumbai to hear the Mumbai Symphony but I was not impressed. World War II was winding down and soon we were on our way back to Virginia and the family homeplace near Green Hill Church of the Brethren.
By now I had three younger brothers. John was soon given a trumpet and received some rudimentary lessons. The tempo of my father's work increased and I began lessons with a Mrs. Spruhan of Salem, Virginia. I performed at a cousin's wedding. And in a few years the family was back in India.
I attended Woodstock School in the foothills of the Himalayas. Played in the school 's orchestra. I took lessons from Mr. DeNaroma the orchestra conductor and violinist. I may have begun some Kreutzer etudes. I must have not made the requisite progress so my father had me get some good coaching from Judy Schiller a senior student at the behest of my Dad.
Returned to the Roanoke area and my father had me take lessons from the concertmeister of the newly organized Roanoke Symphony, Carl Jaspan. It was this man who showed me how to practice, knew how to inspire me and invited me to join the Roanoke Symphony. I began to grow seriously as a musician. And then my father took a pastorate at Mathias, WV. To keep me progressing, my father put me with Edgar Anderson, strings professor at Madison College in Harrisonburg.
Next, I attended Shenandoah Conservatory at Dayton, Virginia, married Lib Flory, finished college at Bridgewater and taught two years of elementary school. Decided to go for a Master's degree at James Madison which was morphing into a university. I completed course work and while teaching at Lynchburg connected with Roger Taylor who was playing in the Roanoke Symphony. He invited me to rejoin which I did. Family and friends helped me parlay that into a job teaching Strings in Roanoke City schools. That was how I made it my career. Lib and our baby daughter, Lisa, soon joined me and my career got underway.
The girls grew and I repeated my father's teaching with them. They played in my school ensembles and Cathy decided to play cello. We switched her over and later we formed a trio/quartet and played weddings. The girls joined the Roanoke Youth Symphony and also played in our Regional and All State orchestras. Our Patrick Henry String orchestra did well at District VI adjudications. Our family joined First Baptist and joined their musical activities.
During this decade I I also was associated with Virginia Music Camp as part of their faculty at Massenetta Springs Conference Center and the the conductors orchestra sponsored by the American Symphony Orchestra League at Orkney Springs, Virginia. AI verified a 1970 year I was there in the 2cnd violin section.
In my last decades with the Roanoke City schools I was invited to play a dinner engagement at the Greenbrier Resort Hotel by Hal Walls. My accompanist was a well known music professor at Hollins University. I was quite nervous at my first gig in the Crystal dining room, but he made me feel at ease. Several weeks that summer Hal called again and we did another. That summer the Greenbrier decade and a half began. I was repeating symphony repertoire so I made the decision to drop the Symphony.
Soon he became unavailable and I had to find another accompanist. Someone recommended a Camille Caruthers at First Baptist. We did the first gig at the Greenbrier and then another until she was one of the main pianists there. The regular gig went something like this as memory serves:
Leaved Roanoke around 2:30. Arrive at the Greenbrier around 4 pm. Play a Tea set for an hour, eat supper downstairs where the other hotel workers ate. Go to either the Crystal or Main dining room and play from 7:30 to about 10 pm with 15 minute breaks. It was pleasant work and paid well. We would get home around midnight. For me these gigs occurred several times a week and much more her as she was the main accompanist for another very elderly violinist who lived in the town. We also played private parties in some of the other conference rooms. With other combinations I played weddings and other celebratory occasions or as a strolling violinist.
I began to have significant problems standing. One time Jim Glazebrook was there at the Greenbrier. He was the concertmeister of the Roanoke Symphony. I introduced them to each other. One time I just couldn't play and she called him. Later, they married and my time at the Greenbrier was essentially over.
A few years later we moved to Midlothian, Virginia to be near our daughter Cathy. I joined the Richmond Philharmonic, played about 10 years with them and made some fine contacts that I parlayed into a fruitful decade of quartet playing. When I was about 86, old age made it advisable to end my public musucal activites.
Since I'm writing this in my last years, I can't vouch for the accuracy of the years, only general memories.
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