Page 13 - Florida Sentinel 4-1-16 Edition

FLORIDA SENTINEL FRIDAY, APRIL 1, 2016
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Violinist Mary Corbett Will Perform At The Straz Center This Friday
MS. MARY CORBETT ...Violinist, Florida Orchestra
BY KENYA WOODARD Sentinel Feature Writer
Playing the violin is more than just a hobby for Mary Corbett.
It’s her profession.
When the St. Petersburg-based Florida Orchestra performs Mendelssohn’s “Violin Concerto” this Friday at the Straz Theater in Tampa, Ms. Corbett’s strings will be among the dozens emitting a sing- song vibration from the stage.
A member of the orchestra since its 1989-1990 season, Ms. Corbett said she appreciates the ability to make a living doing something about which she’s truly passionate.
While performing in the orches- tra is wonderful, playing for those who are ill or at memorial services is the most rewarding, she said.
“What a treat to do what I do for a living,” she said.
The only downside is that the number of Black orchestral musi- cians has changed little since Ms. Corbett became a professional vio- linist more than 30 years ago.
The reason, she said, comes down to few Black children are exposed to classical music – including attending symphony concerts or learning to play an instrument.
Lack of exposure means a dearth of Black violinists playing in profes- sional orchestras, Ms. Corbett said.
“It’s not enough Black people au- ditioning,” she said.
A native of Bridgeport, Conn., Ms. Corbett was raised in a suburb of Buffalo, N. Y., where her father, Frank was a professor and director of the University of Buffalo’s Office of Urban Affairs.
Ms. Corbett was 8, when she was introduced to the violin by her teacher, Clayton Wahl (who, iron- ically, also lives in the Tampa Bay area).
One day, Wahl asked who was interested in learning to play the vi- olin. Ms. Corbett raised her hand and from there, began her lifelong love affair with the classical instru- ment.
With her parent’s approval, Ms. Corbett studied and played the vio- lin relentlessly. She took private les- sons for five years and practiced six hours a day. She played first or sec- ond chair in middle and high school and youth orchestras.
Ms. Corbett said her dedication to her craft continues to this day and she practices at least one and a half hours each day.
“It’s like being an athlete,” she said. “If I go a day without practicing, I’ll notice.”
As a teen, Ms. Corbett got a glimpse of her future career when she won a competition to play with the Buffalo Philharmonic.
She spent her summers in West- port, N. Y. playing at the Meadow- mount School of Music, at the time headed by renowned violin instruc-
tor Ivan Galamian.
Growing up a Black child in an all-
white neighborhood during the 1960s and 1970s was a unique expe- rience, Ms. Corbett said.
For example, interracial dating at the time wasn’t widely accepted, so Ms. Corbett didn’t have any suitors as a high school student. Ms. Cor- bett said she didn’t see herself as dif- ferent from anyone.
“I was always just Mary,” she said. “I was always surprised when people didn’t see me as I saw my- self.”
After graduating high school, Ms. Corbett continued to pursue her love of the violin at the University of Rochester’s Eastern School of Music.
Armed with a bachelor’s degree in violin performance, in 1984 Ms. Corbett applied to the Music Assis- tance Fund, at the time an internship program that paired African-Ameri- can orchestral musicians with sym- phonies throughout the country.
Ms. Corbett had the good for- tune to be placed with the New York Philharmonic. For two years, she played in one of the top orchestras in the world with highly accomplished musicians under famed conductors Kurt Masur, Leonard Bern- stein, and Zubin Mehta.
Although an intern, Ms. Corbett was treated as a formal member of the philharmonic. She received a salary and health insurance, and traveled with the group on two do-
mestic tours that visited cities like Chicago, Boston, and San Francisco. Ms. Corbett credits her time in New York for developing her into a
stronger player.
Carnegie Hall reopened in 1986
and a guest of honor in the audience was Black opera singer Marian An- derson, who first had sang there some 58 years earlier.
“I couldn’t believe I was in the same room with this woman,” Ms. Corbett said. “That was really a spe- cial moment for me.”
More special moments were to come. In 1989, The Florida Orches- tra invited Ms. Corbett to join as a sectional violinist. Just two years later, she and other orchestra mem- bers became part of one of the most historic moments in NFL history.
In 1991, Tampa hosted Super Bowl 25 – the same championship game where pop songstress Whit- ney Houston delivered a flawless rendition of “The Star-Spangled Banner,” which is regarded still as one of the best performances of the national anthem. “It was the most exciting thing,” Ms. Corbett said.
As the orchestra’s 2016-2017 sea- son gets underway, Ms. Corbett said she’s looking forward to playing great music – and hopefully seeing more Black and brown faces in the audience.
“I love looking out in the audience and seeing some representation,” she said. “It warms my soul.”