Mary Beth Norris loved a good glass of champagne and Portmeirion dinnerware. She was the picture of community in Steamboat Springs, frequently inviting people over for Christmas dinners or breakfasts on her front porch.
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“She'd say, 'Just stop over, stop over before school, stop over after a bike ride, just stop over, and I'll make you one of my breakfasts,’” Teresa Steffen Greenlee, Norris’ colleague and concertmaster of the orchestra, said. “She was very special in that regard, and insistent, like, ‘I really want my time with you.’”
But Norris also had a deep passion for classical music, which developed into her big dream for a small town.
“She had this vision that, ‘Why can't we have an orchestra in Steamboat Springs?’” Greenlee said.
She built a community orchestra out of 13 volunteer musicians in 1991. Norris actively recruited anyone who’d visit the town to join. Norris’ enthusiasm changed the climate of the community, and now her passion lives on in her memory. She died at her home in May at the age of 75.
When classical music is mentioned in Steamboat Springs, Norris has to come up. Because of her dedication to the orchestra, it now boasts dozens of talented players and hosts several concerts a year. It changed the town, Greenlee said.
“We have a lot of really great string players who were educated in our little town,” Greenlee said. “If you're in Denver, that's not surprising. But how do you build classical music in a town that's 10,000 people? It's going to take somebody with a vision, who sees it as a possibility.”
Norris supported that vision throughout her life. After establishing the orchestra, she invested in the next generation by teaching the pennywhistle to young kids and holding private flute lessons. Those kids were eager to keep playing, so Norris watched as Greenlee launched the first high school orchestra in the town.
At first, Greenlee didn’t want to join, but Norris pushed her to go learn the Suzuki method, a way of starting kids off early with classical music. She shortly fell in love with it and started teaching violin to some Steamboat Springs students. Norris had a way of convincing people, Greenlee said.
“She said, 'Come be in the orchestra,’ and I said, 'Oh, no,’ I really wasn't interested in playing in the community orchestra at the time, and then I started teaching, because she really encouraged me,” Greenlee said. “ If she hadn't said, ‘just do it,’ it was a little bit like, ‘trust me,’ although she never used those words, she just shared her enthusiasm.”
Even after Norris retired, she continued to be the symphony’s biggest fan, sitting front row at performances. Greenlee said she’ll miss her at concerts, but she will deeply miss her character.
“She believed in kids, and she believed in possibility, and she believed in create your environment,” Greenlee said. “She believed in friendship and having people on her porch and in her kitchen with her and at her dining room table. She was passionate and enthusiastic, and very, very loving.”
Contributions to the Steamboat Symphony Orchestra in Honor of Mary Beth Norris Fund can be made on the orchestra’s website.
