ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Tuesday, October 22, 1996 TAG: 9610220042
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV-1 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
DATELINE: RADFORD
SOURCE: MARGARET BROWN SPECIAL TO THE ROANOKE TIMES
On the conductor's podium in the bandroom, Mark Camphouse, Radford University's director of bands, is conducting a rehearsal of the Wind Ensemble.
"Let's go. One. Two. Three. Here. It. Is," Camphouse says, setting the tempo with his baton. The trumpets and horns spend an hour polishing their eighth notes, the student musicians' toes tapping in time with their first two pieces.
Now it's 4:10 p.m., time for the soloist to arrive.
Abby McKee, long curly blonde hair pulled back in a ponytail, walks into the band room. The 15-year-old sophomore at Blacksburg High School has her flute in hand, ready to play.
About every three seconds, she puffs into the mouthpiece to keep the flute warm, in tune. Finally Camphouse nods to her, and she strides to the front with her music. If she's nervous about her first meeting with the conductor and his college students, it doesn't show.
In blue jeans and a light blue checkered shirt, she looks just like one of them. But McKee is different somehow.
Standing in the musical spotlight beside the podium, she plays as if she's done it 100 times before.
And, in fact, she has. This year, McKee entered a state music competition - because it was held close to home in Blacksburg. She won that and moved on to the regional competition in Louisville. Won that. Moved on the national competition in Kansas City. Won that, too.
Abby McKee became the 1996 winner of the Music Teachers National Association National Junior High School Woodwind Competition.
During the rehearsal, Camphouse stops to consult her about the tempo she wants. She replays without hesitation a few lilting bars clear and true as a mockingbird while he listens.
The oboes give a thumbs-up to each other over McKee's performance so far. Camphouse gives the ensemble directions, and they begin again. After one extended trill, he stops everyone.
"What is the tempo at the presto, young lady?" he asks McKee gently. She immediately snaps out a tempo with her fingers, which he echoes. "OK?"
She nods. They begin the presto again, and her fingers dance. Camphouse must keep his players from overwhelming the one flute, even though McKee's playing is strong, full of vibrato, the tremulous or pulsating effect that is one of the marks of a sophisticated player.
Another stop.
"We must sound less like a band," Camphouse explains. "More like an orchestra."
McKee, patient, plays and then replays to let Camphouse tinker with sections of the ensemble. At 4:50, time to leave, he leads the applause for the soloist.
"Lovely playing," he says with a slight bow. "Very musical. It takes a special person to come in as a high school sophomore and perform with college students. You have a sturdy character and confidence. You'll grow from this experience, and we will, too."
As the rehearsal breaks up, flutists from the ensemble gather around McKee to praise her performance.
McKee, whose father, David, directs the Marching Virginians at Virginia Tech and whose mother, Charlotte, teaches music at Margaret Beeks Elementary School, shrugs at the suggestion that she comes by her musical talents naturally. She's modest, too. "I've only been playing
the flute for five years," she says, adding, "for myself. Otherwise, I wouldn't do it."
She is almost embarrassed to discuss her accomplishment in winning the the Music Teachers National Association national woodwind award.
"I was so surprised to win. I didn't know whether to laugh or cry," she said. "So I laughed. I figured it would look better." Her surprise is understandable because contestants were not allowed to hear anyone else play. "And somebody else played the same piece I did," she says. "Plus, I played last of all."
She's been asked to accompany a youth orchestra on a European tour next summer. "Germany, France, Switzerland and Denmark," she said smiling. "I auditioned in the summer but I just found out."
McKee and her flute are bound for college eventually. "A music major," she said, clutching her flute case. She's already studied with Mara Barker of Blacksburg and studies now with Betsy Crone of Radford University's Department of Music.
"It sounds, I don't know, silly," she said, "but I'm at peace with myself when I play."
LENGTH: Medium: 91 linesby CNB