#47 Learning from Charlotte
Once or twice in a lifetime, some special teacher, some beautiful soul, comes into the lives of your family and makes a difference in every possible way. When we were looking for a flute teacher in our area, quite randomly, we were referred to Charlotte Day. My husband had studied the flute through high school and wanted our daughter to start with a good local teacher. One of my emergency department colleagues told me that Charlotte was the best. We went to one of the local high schools to meet her.
This meeting started nearly twenty years of learning, music, and love between our two families. We saw bar mitzvahs, graduations, holiday celebrations, and funerals. A few weeks ago, our family lost our friend and teacher, Charlotte Brown Day. At her recent memorial service, her family and friends offered their memories of this beautiful force of nature. I asked my family and hers if I could share a few reflections.
Shortly after our daughter, Leah started with Charlotte, my husband, Toby, had his flute refurbished and he started taking lessons with her also. This helped with transporting Leah to Charlotte’s house for the lesson and gave him the opportunity to sit in on her lesson. Parents need to do this for the lessons and practicing to be most effective. Having a more experienced flute player in the house got me (who cannot make even a sound on the flute) off the hook. I could ask the kids to practice and I did. I parroted Charlotte’s favorite advice, “slow is the best teacher.”
A couple of years later, when we decided that our son, Adam, needed more challenge and more mentorship, he started lessons with Charlotte at age 8. Since our kids had started taking piano lessons and already learned to read music, they were able to combine traditional music instruction with Charlotte’s favorite, the Suzuki method.
The Suzuki method originated in the mid-20th century in Japan when Shinichi Suzuki, a musician in Japan, pioneered an idea that young children could learn the viololon if the learning steps were small and the instrument was scaled down to their body size. He emphasized learning by hearing and surrounding young children with music, much the way children learn language. Memorization of all solo pieces was expected and retaining and reviewing every piece of music ever learned was also strongly encouraged.
Another innovation of Suzuki was to deliberately leave out the tradition of technical instructions and exercises found in many beginners' music books of his day. He favored a focus on melodic song-playing over technical exercises, and asked teachers to allow students to make music from the beginning, helping to motivate young children with short, attractive songs which can themselves be used as technique building exercises. Each song in the common repertoire is carefully chosen to introduce some new or higher level of technique than the previous selection. The method also utilizes sound recordings for students to incorporate into their learning.
The Suzuki flute repertoire was compiled and edited by Toshio Takahashi. In fourteen volumes, beginning with Twinkle Twinkle Little Star and ending in the Flute Concerto by Otaka. Also included are concerti by Mozart, Cimarosa, and Quantz. Students also study music by Bach, Handel, Blavet, Fauré and other major composers. Japanese folk music was also included in the repertoire. The philosophy also emphasized group learning, establishing good moral character and “a noble heart.” Charlotte proudly displayed a picture of herself posed with Takahashi in her studio.
Toby playing his gold flute
The kids got to train their brain to memorize the music for their recitals and performances. The piano accompanist would play along with the children as they would play through each book of their memorized pieces. We would try to make their solo recitals into festive events with family, school teachers, and friends in attendance. We had a beautiful music room added to our house which became the favored place for all the recitals. We had our piano tuned specially to be just right for the solo recitals and the prep recital for their yearly judged performances. When an unfortunate scheduling snafu had audition day on the morning of Adam’s Bar Mitzvah, somehow Charlotte got them first auditions and they made it to the synagogue on time. Amazingly, they both made the district band that year!
The end of year graduation recitals were usually a love fest but Charlotte could be hard on her students too. She called out one child so harshly during a group recital that the girl was reduced to tears. Charlotte did quickly realize that she had gone too far and she apologized to the child. My husband told me that every week, another girl he followed on the schedule was in tears at the end of her lesson. Charlotte would not take lack of practice or effort as an acceptable excuse for poor performance. She expected more and her students gave more.
Charlotte with Leah at her confirmation 2009
By following her instructions and practicing, my kids excelled at playing the flute and won recognition at their schools and at the district band competition level. Charlotte expected her students to audition for district band and over the years, they excelled and attained chair positions in both the district band and statewide competitions. Kids who place in district band and rate highly at the Solo & Ensemble festivals feel good about themselves. They see their hard work get rewarded.
There are so many more memories I have that were jogged by looking through all my pictures and videos. There was a yearly Suzuki Institute where the kids went to study intensively for a week each summer. One year Jazz Flutist Greg Pattillo, was in residence as the guest faculty. The kids learned to beatbox (check it out on YouTube) and flutter tongue techniques used in jazz. Charlotte celebrated all types of music and introduced them to her students.
Charlotte always had the children play in a group lesson each month. They had to learn how to read the parts, blend with their peers, count, and make the ensemble work. The dynamics of a group lesson were far different than those of an individual lesson. Much of the time, the kids lost track of their parts and sounded awful. The group shared a lot of laughs at those times.
Another big part of the year was a performance each December at the Visitor’s Center at the Kensington Memorial Temple during the yearly Festival of Lights. Along with the other Suzuki students in the greater Washington area, about 100 flute players gathered to play the songs of the holiday season. Charlotte was always certain that a few Hannukah songs were on the program for my little Jewish kids. The sights and sounds of 100 flutists playing together was a powerful experience.
Charlotte & Adam at the Holiday Concert
The teachers wanted each student to have a special treat. Every year, home-made cookie bags were assembled to give to each and every youngster in attendance (and the piano accompanist). Well, don’t you know who got enlisted to assemble those hundred or so bags of cookies? The moms dropped off the bags of cookies and, yes, it was I who did the sorting. If Charlotte asked me to, I would do anything.
Charlotte’s husband Steve had a distinguished career as a Violist in The United States Army Band, also known as "Pershing's Own", the premier musical organization of the United States Army. Both Charlotte and Steve played at our house or at the Synagogue when our parents died over the past ten years. Their musical gifts were plentiful and given generously.
Charlotte had a small group of adults who started as beginners or advanced students in her studio. My husband improved his technique and tone through nearly sixteen years of lessons. He even treated himself to a gold flute! Toby and Charlotte grew to be close friends over much conversation and music instruction over the years. They each shared the experiences of raising three spirited children. Charlotte even convinced my rather shy husband to host a solo recital so he could share his significant talent and repertoire with our friends. We had quite a grand evening of music, friendship, and of course, excellent refreshments.
Our flute playing kids both took their talents with them to enrich their college experiences. Leah became a piccolo player with the Cavalier Marching Band at the University of Virginia. The group of 28 girls and one guy became their own little “PICC” sorority. The band rehearsals and team building fostered fiercely strong friendships. She lived in a “band house” at UVA during her third and fourth years.
Leah in the Cavalier Marching Band, University of Virginia
Even after graduation from college, when Leah was living at home and working in DC, we encouraged her to continue her lessons with Charlotte. We wanted more instruction, support and unconditional love in her life. Oh yeah, there was beautiful flute music. too. Charlotte and her husband Steve would make sure that Leah ate something or shared tacos with them from the local restaurant.
Adam had started playing the flute in the pit orchestra for the musicals at his high school. The teamwork and practice with his pit mates led to easy friendships with both older and younger musicians. At the University of Virginia, Adam became the flute player for the First Year Players (FYP), a drama troupe that featured one musical each semester. He met an eclectic group of actors and musicians who he would go on to live with in an FYP house during his second year. During his last year, performance week would fall on his birthday during the first week of December. One year, we bought him a tremendous birthday cake to share with the pit, cast and crew.
Leah’s twin brother, Ben, did not take flute lessons with Charlotte. He played the clarinet, and we never found a teacher who assumed musical mentoring role for him. No matter though, Charlotte was firmly on team Ben and became one of his greatest supporters. Ben drove 3.5 hours home after work on august 19th so he could also attend Charlotte’s memorial service and to pay his respects. Leah took the train home from New York City and sadly, Adam was out of town on a long-planned trip to Europe.
Charlotte struggled with various aspects of her health and greatly appreciated the physicians who helped her over and over the years. When her students mastered one of her favorite pieces, the Sonata for Flute and Piano by Paul Hindemith, she would crack to them, “Now, you may play that at my funeral.” Her prized student and grandson, Xander Day, played the Hindemith Sonata and the Serenade by Arthur Woodall at her memorial service on August 20. He was accompanied by lifelong friend Rosalind Kerns. Xander is studying flute performance at the Eastman School of Music at the University of Rochester. At our last outing together, Charlotte told us me how proud she was of him and all of her grandchildren.
When the Kensington Temple was renovated recently and allowed visitors for the first time since 1974, charlotte was eager to show us around. Charlotte and her family are proud members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. On June 6, we snagged tickets and Charlotte went with us to visit the Temple and to explain various rooms and traditions to us. She took this picture of Toby and me. We didn’t even think to pose with her. Just about a month later, as her faith believes, she joined her heavenly father and family members in heaven.
A visit to the Kensington Temple photo by Charlotte Day
Charlotte had tapered down her teaching due to Covid-19 concerns and her other health problems. We hadn’t seen her as much over the last few years and my husband ceased taking lessons. Less flute music and less Charlotte in our lives was one more sad fallout from world-wide pandemic. Thank you, Charlotte, for being YOU and sharing yourself with our family. We will miss you dearly.
The family is establishing a scholarship in Charlotte’s honor to fund children who need assistance affording private music instruction.
Charlotte Day Memorial Donations (google.com)
