Terrie Baune, concertmaster
chair sponsored by Carol Berg and Stafford Thomas
Humboldt County, CA
playing with NSS since 2001
What made you want to be a musician?
When I was five years old and went off to kindergarten, my mother went to work in my school library during my school hours and her boss, an amateur pianist and harpsichordist, offered to give me piano lessons. (what do you say when your boss offers you something?) I played piano till I was eight, but my mother had SF Symphony season tickets and took me a few times, when I decided that being in the middle of that big bunch of violins making that wonderful sound was what I wanted to do, so as soon as I could I switched to the violin.
Favorite genre of music?
I tried lots of things in high school, including playing with a rock band and a bluegrass ensemble, but classical music was the only kind of music that I thought would remain interesting over the long haul. And it has.
What do you enjoy doing when you’re not rehearsing or performing?
I make clothing, including some of my concert clothes, try to walk every day, read voraciously and have a secret addiction to Sudoku.
What’s it like to perform onstage with an orchestra?
Performing onstage with an orchestra - if I had to come up with an analogy, maybe river canoeing. Once you start there's no going back and you have to deal with each potential derailer as it comes along - and at the end of the trip, you realize that you've seen and heard amazing things and you will never be the same person as before.
Best advice you’ve ever received?
I'm very stubborn and tend not to take anyone's advice but my own - but my favorite piece of musical advice comes from my husband Nick, who was NSS principal violist for the first several years - when I was getting a little too busy with some less than stellar projects, he posted a sign over the phone that read, "Play No Strains for Turnip-Brains!" which inspired me to learn to say no more often.