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| February 2010 | Issue 15 |
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Mark (Allen McCoy) Your Calendar! |
Meet the Musician An LSO Original On March 16, 1991, the Loudoun Symphony--then called the Loudoun Community Orchestra--held its first concert. Seven players on the roster for that concert remain on the LSO's books as players today. The only violinist among those seven, Olive Johnson, has missed only one concert (due to an arm injury). And violin is not even her first instrument! Olive's love for music started at age six, when she started piano lessons. This instrument was chosen because they had one in the house. Olive's father was a doctor in the military, serving in both World Wars. As a result, Olive, who was born in Philadelphia, spent her childhood moving from place to place, the piano being one of the constants in her life. Olive remembers her father standing over her, encouraging her to practice; he had a good ear and, even from another room in the house, he could hear mistakes and would yell out a correction. Olive went to Randolph-Macon College--then strictly for women--where she majored in music theory and minored in piano as part of her liberal arts degree. She spent a year at Julliard further studying piano. World War II intervened, however, and Olive's studies were cut short when she went to work as a clerk in a General Dynamics plant, helping the war effort. Even war couldn't keep Olive from her music, however; she took organ lessons and traveled by train down to New York for concerts. After the war, Olive needed to earn a living, so she went to an elite secretarial school in New York to become what was then called a "collegiate professional." It was in New York that she met her husband Merlin. Ironically, he was dating Olive's roommate and stopped by shortly after Christmas to take her out. The roommate had not yet returned from the Christmas holidays, so Merlin asked Olive out instead, and the rest, as they say, was history. Circa six months later, they got married. 
Olive and Merlin moved to Virginia, first to Arlington and then to
Lovettsville, where Olive still lives today. Olive's life
centered around her family; she raised two sons, Eric and Carl,
both of whom currently live in Richmond, VA. In her spare time,
she taught piano and played organ for churches. For 26 years,
she was the choirmaster and organist for St. Peter's Church in
Purcellville. She also taught elementary music for 25 years in
Loudoun County schools. She's a frequent traveler to Europe; here we see
Olive at the marimba, during
an Orff class in Europe.
You'll have noted by now that mention of playing the violin has been conspicuously absent thus far from the tale of Olive's life. At age 39, Olive saw her grandfather's violin around the house and decided to learn to play. Her first teacher was a high school kid; her second, a professor at Hood College. The major influence on her violin career, however, was the late Tom Marks, also an original member of the LSO and long-time chair of the second violins until his untimely passing. Olive was initially a bit intimidated by Tom, but a couple of witticisms from Olive made Tom laugh and they then developed a great relationship. Olive recalls that Tom was an excellent teacher who would not give false praise; Tom once told Olive's family that she was making "good progress because she practices." At a time in her life when many people would be retired and relaxing in Florida, Olive continues to teach piano. She loves working with children, so three days a week, she is at the Lovettsville community center giving lessons. She currently has 16 students, some as young as six years old. She still loves to sing soprano in the church choir. In her spare time, she is an avid reader of detective stories. Olive vividly recalls trying to drum up an audience for that first Loudoun Community Orchestra concert back in 1991. Players even stood on street corners, talking up the free concert to passersby to try to get word out about this new group. She and her fellow six "originals" have watched the orchestra mature since then, continuing to delight in the joy of creating beautiful music together with other music lovers. The other six originals? Not all of them have been able to play every concert or even every season. Here are the other individuals and their instruments: Sharlotte DeVere (1991: Oboe; 2009: English Horn); Craig Hollenbach (Oboe); Gene Makely (Viola); Michael Rohrer (Bass); Richard Rowen (French Horn); and Vicki Rundquist (1991: Viola and Timpani; 2009: Percussion). Whether you're an "original" audience member from that first concert or a new devotee, we'd love to hear from you! Contact the newsletter editors and share your LSO stories. Meanwhile, Olive and the rest of the current roster of the LSO hope to see you at all the remaining LSO concerts and functions as we wrap up this 19th season. Great News! From our beautiful Virginia county emerges an extraordinary talent with world-wide potential -- Her name is Maddy Curtis. Maddy won 2nd place in last year's Loudoun's Got Talent competition, an event sponsored and organized by your Loudoun Symphony Orchestra. But then along came American Idol! In mid-January, Maddy, pride of Bluemont and a student at Loudoun Valley High School, was selected to move on to the next round of competition. In Hollywood! Imagine that! Maddy is 16, and only decided to audition for the nationally televised program one day before the try-outs in Boston. If you saw the program when it aired, you know the power and range Ms. Curtis brings to her music, with a voice seemingly much more mature than her age would indicate. Go Maddy! The Loudoun's Got Talent staff and crew salute you, and wish you continued success no matter where you go. (You can see Maddy's American Idol performance, and some backstage doings as well, at our Web site. Click on the button labeled VIDEOS.) We applaud not only Maddy Curtis, but also last years Loudoun's Got Talent winner Jason Greco, third place winner Christi McCarthy, and all of the competitors. Jason received a standing ovation for his performance at the December 2009 Loudoun Symphony concert. The level of talent in last year's competition was just extraordinary. They are all "Idols" in our book, and we look forward to discovering new talent again this year. Special note: this year's Loudoun's Got Talent auditions are on Saturday, May 1 at Stone Bridge High School. Full details are available right now at the Symphony's Web site: www.loudounsymphony.org Become famous? Go to Hollywood? Check it out! ---------------*--------------- Previous issues of Loudoun Symphony Notes can be found at: http://www.loudounsym.org/notes_index.htm. Have comments or questions? Contact the editors--Don O'Brien and Vicki Rundquist--at newsletter@loudounsym.org Be instrumental! Forward a copy of this Newsletter to friends and family. To subscribe...
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