Helen Montie in rehearsal with the L-S Civic Orchestra. Photo by Dan Pettengill
By Dave McLellan
When asked about her experience during her three years in the Lincoln-Sudbury Civic Orchestra (LSCO), L-S senior and principal cellist Helen Montie of Lincoln can only say “I LOVE CIVIC!!!!!” in all capital letters, as if she’s shouting it in an email (which she did, actually).
“In spite of how busy I am, especially in the spring with my sailing team and AP tests, I still go to Civic,” said Helen, who will play with the LSCO in its May 30 concert (see below). “When I joined, I wanted the opportunity to play grand challenging works for full orchestra. By playing these difficult pieces, I’ve definitely grown as a musician, more than I would have otherwise.” She remembers in her first year in Civic as an L-S sophomore playing Tchaikovsky’s Fourth Symphony and Dvorak’s New World Symphony under the direction of Lincoln’s Pip Moss as a particular rite of passage.
Helen started playing cello in fifth grade as a social activity. “I was at a private school where we lived in Michigan and all my friends were in orchestra, so I had to join,” she said. “I picked cello because it wasn’t as squeaky as the violin, and I certainly didn’t want to lug around a string bass.” The Goldilocks instrument? “It was just right, although viola would have been OK, too. If I had known that violists are in such demand, I might have headed in that direction.” Conductors would be ecstatic.
Helen’s parents Paul and Carolyn aren’t practicing musicians, though “Dad went through a ukulele phase when he was in college, and Mom plays piano pretty well,” she said. Paul is a freelance graphic designer for MIT mostly, and Carolyn studies social work and helps him with the design business while holding the family and household together. Helen’s sister Eve is a sophomore at L-S, where she plays piano and sings in L-S choral groups as well as rowing on the crew team.
Helen does a different water sport at the high school—she sails on the L-S team in a two-man 4.2-meter boat, an experience that she compares to playing in a musical duet. “It’s just like playing in a musical duo. The skipper [usually L-S sophomore Ben Adams] and I know each other so well that we can almost predict each other’s moves. It requires strong teamwork and coordinated action, just like playing in a good duo,” she said.
Helen Montie. Photo by Paul Montie.
Music is an essential part of Helen; in addition to playing cello and piano, “I sing in the car, but nowhere that people can actually hear me,” she said. However, she doesn’t plan to make a career of it; she’ll start college in the fall and hopes to be a scientist. That’s after a busy summer that includes her regular bike ride in the Pan Mass Challenge, a fundraiser that supports cancer research—a cause that’s personal for Helen and her family.
This is the second year she’ll be riding for Team Montie Pythons, which her parents and sister Eva formed in 2009 after Helen was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia. She subsequently underwent chemotherapy for two years at the Dana Farber Cancer Institute. A now-healthy Helen will do the one-day round-trip segment between Babson College in Wellesley and Gillette Stadium in Foxboro.
Helen is one of seven high school students who love the LSCO ensemble and what it offers. “We’re all here for the pleasure of music-making. And we’ve really enjoyed being led by this year by Ray Daniels and Matt LaRocca, interim conductor for the winter concert,” she said. The other high schoolers in the LSCO are Lily Vellom, a senior at New England Academy, and six L-S students: junior Emily Hong of Lincoln; and Emily Liang and Julia Kulyomia (both seniors), juniors Greg Derecho and Kaili Chen, and sophomore Zhongyi Zuo, all of Sudbury.
Other Lincoln residents who are members of the LSCO are violinists Ron Row, Steven Sewall and Lucia Longnecker, who is also the membership coordinator.
Admission is a suggested donation of $10 for adults, $5 for students and senior citizens. A reception will follow the concert.
McLellan is publicity assistant for the LSCO.
