| By
Melissa H. DiGregorio
Most parents have to tenderly persuade their children to learn
to play a musical instrument. Anne Fatum, on the other hand, was
trying to convince her parents at age 12 to let her take up the
clarinet.
|
Anne
Fatum plays the flute with the
Golden Eagle Community Band.
|
Fatum needed a little time and help to win over her parents.
She recounted how the music director of the group she was
hoping to join actually visited her home and got her parents
to grant her request. By then, nearly two years had passed
since she first expressed her interest in the clarinet.
However, there was one more snag to work out. Since there
were already plenty of clarinetists in that particular group,
the music director suggested she take up the flute instead.
The rest, as they say, is history. The flute became a lifelong
pursuit, and Fatum, an administrative assistant in the Office
of the Chief of Staff, is currently a volunteer member of
the Golden Eagle Community Band of Mount Holly.
Fatum spent the early years of her musical career as a
student of the Settlement Music
School in Philadelphia. She remembers being a fast learner
and displaying a natural affinity for the instrument. Within
a year, she was attending auditions to compete for spots
in various regional bands and orchestras. Those auditions,
she recalled, could be
daunting.
"You had to work up audition pieces and audition in
front of a panel," she related. "For a blind audition,
you had a number, and the panel didn't even look at you.
They had their backs to you. I had to do that a lot, and
it was tough, but that's a part of the process -competing
first and then playing for enjoyment."
|
As a student, Fatum auditioned for and was accepted to perform
with the All-South Jersey Band and Orchestra, All-State Band and
the All-Eastern United States Band and Orchestra. She eventually
went on to perform with the Woodbury Symphony in Gloucester County
and the Cherry Hill Wind Symphony in Camden County.
Today, she plays both the flute and piccolo with the Golden Eagle
Community Band, which is regarded as the premier all-volunteer
community band in South Jersey. The band performs music of all
different styles and genres, including Dixieland, big band, rock,
marches, show tunes, classical and holiday music. Formed in 1972
and with an active membership of more than 55 men and woman, the
band has performed at a variety of events in and out of the Garden
State.
The band performed the National Anthem at a Baltimore Orioles
game in 1996. It performed in historic Mount Vernon and at the
National Mall while representing New Jersey during the 2000 National
Festival of the States in Washington, D.C.
Another of Fatum's most cherished memories was a performance
tour that included appearances aboard the Norwegian Cruise Line's
MS Sea. The band staged concerts on the ship and at various ports
of call, among them Newport (R.I.), Bar Harbor (Maine), Martha's
Vineyard (Mass.) and Nova Scotia.
"It was the first time I had the opportunity to play out
of the country, and
it was very exciting," she said. "We were playing every
day. It was really time consuming, because we had to set up all
of our equipment, pick it up and move it by boat. There were places
where the cruise ship couldn't come in to the port, and the boats
had to come out and get us. It was pretty involved, a little more
work than other performances. But it certainly was worthwhile."
In 1994, the Golden Eagle Community Band traveled to Walt Disney
World to play a concert at the Fantasyland stage. Not only was
it the largest audience for which the band had ever performed,
but the atmosphere was electric.
"We were the opening performance group for the Spectro Magic
parade, and they had us
behind these gates," Fatum remembered. "When the gates
opened, all these flashbulbs were going off, and a big announcement
was made. Everyone was screaming. It was such an exciting moment."
Locally, the band frequently performs at charity events. In fact,
Fatum, who serves as the woodwind section manager, has chaired
their annual Marine Corps "Toys for Tots" campaign,
distributing thousands of dollars in toys to needy children.
Above all, Fatum enjoys her affiliation with the Golden Eagle
Community Band because it allows her to continue to play on a
regular basis with other musicians.
"It's amazing, because a lot of people spend all these years
competing and learning their instruments, then when they become
adults, they put their instrument down and never touch it again"
she said. "These groups -- and there are a lot of adult groups
out there -- enable you to keep going.
"I've met so many nice people through music," she continued.
"The thing I like most is that it brings joy to other people.
Music really is an international language."
Based largely in her own experiences, Fatum is dedicated to the
continuation of music education programs for students. It troubles
her that music education programs are often the first to be eliminated
in school districts facing budget issues.
"It's a great experience for our youths to be artists who
display their work or musicians who compete," said Fatum,
who volunteers at high schools and gives private lessons. "Music
is a gift. Eventually, there won't be anyone to educate our children
in the arts if they are eliminated from the curriculum. The arts
can keep kids out of trouble. Some kids might not want to go to
school, but if they know that they can play an instrument, it
keeps
them going. I think it's essential to keep the arts."
|
