Caroline Goulding - Then and Now

by Lindsay Hanson
Concert Series Coordinator, WUD Performing Arts Committee

I'm looking forward to meeting Caroline Goulding next month - because the last time I saw her, which was in June of 2003, she was 10 years old. This is what she looked like. I was 15, and had just finished my freshman year at the Interlochen Arts Academy in my hometown of Interlochen, Michigan. My dad came home one evening and said that Jennifer Granholm, then governor of Michigan, was coming to Interlochen to visit as a part of her "Travel Michigan" Tourism Initiative. Since the governor was coming in June - when the school year is over and the summer camp season has not yet started - the school was scrambling to find Interlochen students to play for the governor's visit.

My father said that this little kid who had been in camp the previous summer was going to play violin for her. Well, why couldn't I play horn for her? I was already in town! I was talented, too! Girls who play brass instruments are unique and interesting! Well, at age 15, I was no longer cute. I was a teenager. I wouldn't have made the governor look like this:

The horn, played by a tomboy-ish 15 year-old girl, just doesn't have that heartwarming effect on people. Though I may have been good, I just didn't make the cut for the governor's visit.

But things are different now. Caroline Goulding and I both grew up, and while we have shared some common experiences, we embarked on different career paths. While I aim to become an amazing and creative arts administrator, Goulding has entered the performing world. Only 19, she has appeared as a soloist with orchestras such as the Cleveland Orchestra and the Houston Symphony, and has performed alongside Béla Fleck (who is coming to the Union Theater in March!), Elaine Douvas of the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra, and pianist Christopher O'Riley. I worked Béla Fleck's show one summer at Interlochen, Elaine Douvas was a judge at the 2004 Interlochen Arts Academy Concerto Competition where I was a finalist, and I appeared with Christopher O'Riley on NPR's From The Top in 2005. Here's a photo (I'm on the left.):

Who knew that in the Fall of 2011 in Madison, our lives would cross again - Goulding an emerging soloist, and myself a graduate student. And this time, I'll actually meet her. I'm excited for that--and to hear her playing!

Goulding's recital performance, which includes works of Mozart, Enescu, Schumann, Fauré and Saint-Saëns, is held in the Union Theater on Thursday, November 3 at 7:30pm. She also appears with the UW Chamber Orchestra on Saturday, November 5 at 7:30pm, performing Mendelssohn's Violin Concerto. I'm looking forward to both concerts, and I hope to see you there!