By CAROL HEGSTROM
The Progress
There are many occasions when it is tradition to give “gifts”. We choose the most beautiful and sometimes very expensive. We want our gifts to be treasured for many years. What about the “gifts” that are treasured yet cannot be bought?
This article is a tribute to two talented Moapa Valley residents that have given “The Gift of Music” in the community for many years.
Logandale resident Connie Whitney has lived in the Moapa Valley all her life. And since she is in her 90s now, that is a long time.
Whitney has taught piano lessons in town since she was quite young. Over the years her influence and impact has grown. She has taught the piano to generations of families including her own six children, many grandchildren and even great grandchildren. She said that she enjoys watching each of her students excel. Many of them are now accomplished musicians.
Whitney has found joy in making music at the piano herself since she was a young child. Her grandmother, Ada Waymire, was her first piano teacher.
Whitney relates that her grandmother brought her a book, and her first piano student when she was newly married. That began her love of teaching.
Whitney has also been active in making music in the community for decades. She recalls that one of the people who encouraged her talent was former Moapa Valley High School principal Grant Bowler. From the time she was very young, he provided many opportunities for Whitney to use her talents. She accompanied people for music in church services, played for school assemblies and musical theatre productions.
Interestingly, she also played the saxophone in the dance orchestra in high school.
Whitney has been a mainstay of the annual community performance of Handel’s Messiah at Christmas time. She has been the accompanist for those performances for longer than most people can remember.
When asked what her favorite piano piece is to play, the answer is “Clair de Lune” by Claude Debussy.
Walter White is a talented musician who has taught at Mack Lyon Middle School for the past 14 years. In his role at the school, he teaches three levels of orchestra, two levels of guitar class, and a choir class.
White first learned about Overton, Nevada while attending a music convention in San Antonio Texas. The Clark County School District had a booth there at the expo. Out of curiosity, White inquired about the district.
White said that he was at a crossroad in his life at that time and decided to visit family in Los Angeles and drive to Nevada to check out this “suburb” of Las Vegas. He related that he “drove and drove” and finally saw the exit to Overton. The rural life appealed to him and he has not regretted his decision.
Mr. White grew up in Houston Texas, and his love of violin began in kindergarten. He would watch television and admired celebrities such as Curley Fox (a country fiddler), and Liberace, whose brother George, was an accomplished violinist.
At the age of 9 he began taking lessons from Professor Jack Bradley at the Texas Southern University. Bradley was the one of the first black members of a major professional orchestra. White continued studying with Bradley through high school.
After graduation from high school White attended Texas Southern University and graduated with a Bachelor of Music Education. He received a Masters degree in Music from Boston University.
He taught elementary and secondary school in Laredo Texas for 8 years, and in Waco Texas for 15 years. He has a total of 52 years teaching including the years here in Overton.
Mr. White has played in several orchestras in various areas of the United States, and professional symphony orchestras as well. He also performed for several years in a Country Western group “The Streets of Laredo”.
White is currently working on a doctorate degree in music at UNLV.
Both White and Whitney had similar advice that they regularly give to their students? It is to practice their instruments at least 15 to 20 minutes a day! Consistency is essential, they both said.
Thank you so much to Connie Whitney and Walter White for planting “seeds” of music for so many years, and also for giving the “Gift of Music.”
Whitney has a saying on her wall that reads “Life is like a piano—what you get out of it depends on how you play it.” Both she and White are great examples of these simple words.
