My family and I moved to this area from South Carolina. We lived there fourteen years and it was a big adjustment to move from a much slower paced society to this one. My life philosophy came into being with this move; to " bloom where you are planted". I am very thankful to have the opportunity to do just that since moving here.I grew up in Springfield, Missouri (also the hometown of Brad Pitt). I started violin lessons in the fourth grade and loved it from the very beginning. I had private lessons, played in school orchestras and in the Springfield Youth Symphony until my senior year in high school. A lot of "stuff" in my life pulled me away from it. For about the next seven years, I rarely played.
Then my family moved to Orlando, Florida for a year and a half. It was there at the church I attended that I dusted off the violin and started TRYING to make music again. When we moved to South Carolina I played some specials in the church. There I met a woman who wanted to join another musician to play occasionally. This woman played the piano and another played the flute. Later, a fourth friend joined us with her clarinet. It was an odd combination, but we enjoyed making music together about once a month for the most part of 13 years.
Soon after moving to Leesburg, Virginia in 1995, I attended a concert of the Loudoun Symphony. I was thrilled to learn of their string workshop which is open to any string player regardless of their ability. I joined the workshop and soon found out that 30 minutes a week was NOT ENOUGH! Several of the violin players were taking lessons from Tom Marks and I became one of his students. Through his very patient teaching I have regained, perhaps surpassed, my ability from younger days and auditioned to become a part of the Loudoun Symphony. I am now one of their most enthusiastic players. It has been a great learning experience, as well as given me some wonderful friendships.
My son Tim attends James Madison University in Harrisonburg, VA., majoring in Chemistry. My daughter, Jessie, attends college in Georgia and plans to pursue a career in Journalism and Photography. They are the light of my life!
My other passions in life are reading and the library. I feel doubly blessed to be able to work at the Rust Library in Leesburg. It is true though, "so many books, so little time".
The Catoctin Quartet is the icing on the cake for me. I had wanted to play chamber music for some time. Catharine and I both talked and prayed about it. The rest is not yet history, but an exciting future with my dear fellow members of the Catoctin Quartet.
