In honor of Northshore Concert Band’s 70th anniversary, we are marking this milestone year in a meaningful and personal way. At each concert throughout the season, a guest speaker — someone other than our conductor Mallory Thompson — will take a few moments to share their own Lifetime of Music story and reflect on how the Band has been part of their journey. These voices will celebrate not only our history, but the deep connections and shared experiences that have shaped us for seven decades.

During the February 22 concert, NCB member Katie McCarthy (horn) took a moment to share her Lifetime of Music story from the stage.

Katie McCarthy on stage at Pick-Staiger Concert Hall during her 2013 solo performance with Northshore Concert Band.

I'm here to talk about what a lifetime of music means to me. Music has led me through the highest highs and lowest lows of my life, starting at the age of the students we have on stage with us today.

In middle school, when I first started on trumpet, I had no idea what music would bring to my life. I just knew it felt good. A few months into the school year, I asked my band director if I could switch to sax (don't hate me, trumpets). He told me no, because we had one million saxophones already, and also what did I think about switching to French horn instead, because only kids with really good ears could play horn, and that was me (he knew what he was doing). Of course, I said yes, and switched. For those first few years, music was mostly a social endeavor for me. I had fun learning to play, and I had fun playing with my friends.

But in 9th grade, my horn buddy cajoled me into auditioning for her youth orchestra. I had never taken any horn lessons or been to an orchestra concert, so I showed up to the audition with a band piece I was learning (an arrangement of Russian Sailors Dance, of all pieces), and got in thanks to the kind music director who saw potential in me. I'll never forget my first rehearsal in that group — realizing just how it sounded and felt to make music with kids who were way better than me, and also experiencing the sound and feel of an orchestra for the first time from the inside out. It moved my soul.

That youth orchestra sparked my love of classical music, helped introduce me to lessons, study, music festivals, and ultimately the world of classical music as a career. Before all that, though, when I was 17 and just about to begin applying for music schools, my dad died suddenly. I no longer had a stable home life, so I moved in with my partner’s family for my last year of high school. Everything in my world had turned upside down, and I credit music with keeping me going during this time. There’s a lot I don't remember about that year, but much of what I do remember is music.

Performing Tchaikovsky’s Fourth Symphony for the first time; learning what chamber music was and playing Mozart’s Horn Quintet; preparing like mad for my auditions, traveling alone to all of them, and learning how independent and resilient I could be. I played in a brass quintet for my dad’s funeral, and later that school year, I organized a memorial concert to fundraise for the cancer center where he’d been a patient. Music enabled me to move through that impossible moment, and at the same time, propelled me forward into and through college and grad school.

Katie and her daughter Olie and NCB Member Janene Kessler (horn).

After studying horn at Northwestern, where I got to learn from Mallory, among others, and even be a soloist with this band, I spent many years auditioning, teaching, and freelancing. I founded a brass quintet with friends, where we mixed pop, jazz, and classical, and brought all of this to spaces that wouldn’t normally have anything to do with classical musicians. It was an absolute joy — Max Briggs, one of our tuba players, was in this group with me. Ask him after the show about absolutely nailing the tuba part for our arrangement of Michael Jackson’s Billie Jean.

Freelance life was fulfilling but hard. Then, when I was 27, ten years after my dad passed away, my mom died. This brought me to my knees in a way nothing ever had. I couldn’t focus, I couldn’t move forward, I just wasn’t myself. I didn’t even want to play the horn anymore. And that was a wakeup call to me — it was the first time I’d ever lost my way with music. Eventually, I decided to step away from the horn as my career so I could find stability in at least one aspect of my life. I made a major career switch and learned how to code. About a year and a half after I lost my mom, I accepted my first job in tech, and upon accepting this job, I realized I needed to reach out to Mallory. I knew I needed to get back to music so I could get back to myself. I remember the email I sent her, and I remember her loving reply. Thankfully, my audition went well, and for the last eight years, this group has become my musical family and brought me back to myself.

Northshore Concert Band has seen me through a career change, COVID, the birth of my daughter, and so much more. Mallory starts every rehearsal with an enthusiastic “Happy Wednesday!” (even if that “Happy Wednesday” comes after her insisting that we tune again and be musical about it this time). Those happy Wednesdays have changed my life. The small moments, where I get to share a smile with a friend who just nailed a solo, or the big moments, like we just had performing at the Midwest Clinic for an audience of nearly 2,000 people.

I’ll close now with a quote that Mallory shared with us a few days after our Midwest concert, from a European conductor who told her about our performance: “You made us feel like we are all one people in the world and that we are welcome here.” I read that quote and have been thinking about it ever since. Because what more could you hope for from a lifetime of music? To be able to create something beautiful with your friends regularly, that also makes even just one listener feel like they belong somewhere.

My life has been made more meaningful because of music, and I wish the same for every student on this stage with us today.

As we look back with gratitude and ahead with optimism, we invite our community to be part of the next chapter through our $70 for the 70th campaign. This anniversary initiative honors the past while helping ensure the Band’s music continues to inspire future generations.

$70 FOR 70 YEARS

A Lifetime of Music — Katie McCarthy