My name is Laney Conter, and I have been playing violin for ten years. I come from a long line of violinists, and I have the honor of playing on my great-grandfather’s violin. While I never got to meet my great-grandfather, I am often told that we are very similar and likely would have been very close. I often feel like playing his instrument has brought us close.
I am currently in my second year at Old Dominion University working towards a Bachelor’s of Music in Music Education – Instrumentals. I am a strong academic student and receive ODU’s Principal’s Academic Scholarship each year. Studying and practicing for my classes always comes first; however, I will admit that sometimes it can be overwhelming to balance school and extracurriculars. Many weekends you can find me volunteering at my church where I play solo and ensemble pieces during service. Whether or not I play that day, I always help set up and tear down audio equipment.
To pay for my tuition, textbooks, and tolls to get to school, I work about 30 hours a week at my local music store. I have worked there for about two and a half years and have loved every moment of it. The job has exposed me to a wide spectrum of people and musicians and helped me to develop my communication and listening skills. This job is also what led me to pursue a full-time career in music. Prior to working there, I was set on majoring in mathematics education; however, going to work day after day surrounded by people as passionate about music as I am made me realize that I could never give up that feeling.
The switch in my head didn’t flip until about six months in the job. One of our string teachers at the store got pulled away from the lesson he was supposed to be teaching and he asked me to cover him for the rest of the lesson. The student was about 6 years old and just starting to play. She was struggling to keep her left hand and wrist position correct and it was severely affecting her intonation and overall mood. She was frustrated and completely over it. It took about twenty minutes to help her adjust to position so that she could play both comfortably and accurately. I still remember the excited squeal that the young girl emitted when she realized she was playing it correctly. It was that moment that the switch went off in my head. I just had to become a music teacher.
Since then, I have had a handful of my own private lesson students. I won multiple awards in high school such as the Chesapeake Scholar Musician Award and the Maestro’s Award at Worldstride’s 2016 Washington DC competition. I started to volunteer to tutor the freshmen and sophomore violinists after school and during lunch more during my senior year of high school. I was – until COVID started – constantly helping one of the string teachers at the store teach group lessons. Because of COVID, it has been difficult finding new lesson students willing to give online lessons a chance. Hopefully, by the time I graduate from ODU we will be back to in person classes.
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