WREXHAM SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA

Becky Jarvis - viola

Becky began her musical life with the piano at age 5, being taught by her parents. She took up the violin when she was 7, and took her Grade 5 under the tutelage of Helen Armstrong aged 13. During the next autumn, she was encouraged to play the viola, and never looked back (until fairly recently - but that's another story...). She joined Sunderland Youth Orchestra in January 1990 after only playing the viola for two months, and took her Grade 5 in the summer. For this she achieved the highest mark for anyone taking Grade 5 that year in the whole of Sunderland (which is a bigger place than you think!) and was awarded the Arthur Dickeson Memorial Prize.

Becky took GCSE Music at Monkwearmouth School, and went on to study A-Level Music at Monkwearmouth College (Shiney Row Centre). During this time, she continued to play viola in Sunderland Youth Orchestra, and went on tour with them to Holland and France. She hurt her arm in 1991, and took up percussion in the Youth Orchestra for a while as she couldn't play viola. She then went on to play percussion in the county Wind Band for two and a half years.

After taking her A-Levels, Becky went on to study Music at Lancaster University in 1994, where she studied viola under Wendy Cann. During this time she was Principal Viola in the Music Society Symphony Orchestra, the Chamber Orchestra, and the Students' Orchestra. She was also Percussion Section Leader in the Music Society Wind Band. Becky played percussion and viola as an extra in the Westmorland Orchestra and Lancaster's Haffner Orchestra at times. She also sang soprano solo with the university Choral Society dunring Freshers' Week 1996, and sang at times with the Chamber Choir.

Becky was Social Secretary of the Music Society for a year ('Next Bar!'), and stayed on to become Secretary the following season. She has many fond memories of making punch (and drinking it) in Cartmel Coffee Lounge, and the recipie for this will go with her to her grave (hopefully not an early one...).

She also has fond memories of playing in various quartets and clarinet quintets, mainly for college Christmas dinners. The highlight of these was having sprouts thrown at them at the Law Society Ball. Obviously lawyers are not as cultured as they like to think...

After university, Becky spent 10 months in Australia, woring mainly in McDonalds as well as soaking up the sunshine, and sang in the Perth Oratorio Choir, performing Handel's Messiah (of Messiah's Handel, as one of her 6^th formers currently thinks it is called...) in an open-air auditorium. She also performed in a lunchtime recital in Sydney.

Back in Britain, Becky embarked on a PGCE at Bangor University in September 1998. Her first teaching practice was at St. Joseph's RC, and after Christmas, she ended up (like many members of the orchestra, it seems) at St. David's. This was not supposed to be the case, but her change of teaching practice changed her life forever, for it was here that she met Mark Lansom, who was teaching violin and viola, and went on to play with Wrexham Symphony Orchestra and the Cambrian. At the end of the year, Becky moved back up to the north east of England, and taught Music in Thornaby Community School for two years. She played viola in the New Tyneside Orchestra, and occasionally with other orchestras in the area, including Cobwebs.

The pull of WSO was still there, however, as she had made many good friends during her short time in Wrexham. She came back at least six times to play with these ensembles whilst living in the North East, and eventually applied for a job at Mold Alun, where she has been teaching Music and Drama since September 2001. Since coming back to Wrexham, Becky has taken turns at leading the violas, and has been joint-Secretary and is now Chairman of the orchestra. She also helps to run the Cambrian, and has been known to sit on back desk of Chester Philharmonic when they are really desperate.

Becky has also recently started to really enjoy playing the violin again, and had a big impulse buy in the Violin Shop of Chester a few weeks ago, which she is not regretting! She also tried her hand at being David Dickenson at a local auction and bought a piano. Currently she has two violins, a viola, a piano, two piano accordions and three recorders residing in her lounge. (It's a big lounge.) Becky also sings soprano with the Sirenian Singers, and has played both violin and viola in their concerts.

March 2003

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