ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Friday, January 19, 1996 TAG: 9601190019
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV-3 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
DATELINE: BLACKSBURG
SOURCE: DONNA ALVIS-BANKS STAFF WRITER
Nitza Kats has been teaching piano lessons for more than 30 years.
She's seen many promising musicians in that span, but the one she chooses to remember year after year is Rebecca Orr, a Blacksburg High School graduate whose life was cut short by a drunken driver.
"She was such a special student," Kats said recently from her office in Radford University's music department. "Her death was a shock to everyone."
After graduating from Blacksburg High School, Rebecca Orr entered Oberlin College in Ohio. She wanted to continue her music studies and pursue a major in physics or math.
"She excelled in many different subjects," Kats said. "She was accepted at several major universities. She went to Oberlin because her parents went there."
In 1982, Orr was jogging near the college when a drunken driver lost control of his car and struck her. The accident happened shortly after the start of her freshman year.
Kats remembers Orr as an exemplary young person.
"She was very bright, warm, caring and sensitive. And knowledgeable - she had a variety of areas of expertise," Kats said. "She was a very talented and dedicated student.
"I wanted to do something to keep her memory."
Thirteen years ago, Kats did just that.
The Rebecca Orr Memorial Concert is an annual event that raises scholarship money for other outstanding students. Musicians from the Virginia Tech and Radford University music departments participate each year.
"We give a scholarship to a high school junior or senior each year," Kats explained. "It's to help the students pursue their piano studies."
Kats said she never has trouble recruiting musicians for this concert.
"There is a lot of enthusiasm about it," she noted. "If there is a problem, it's that we have too many performers. It makes the program too long."
That, she's quick to add, is a good problem to have.
Kats and her fellow musicians will present the 13th annual concert tonight. It starts at 8 in Virginia Tech's Squires Recital Salon.
The performers will play music by Beethoven, Schumann, Scriabin, Vaughan Williams and Sancan, among others. Musicians include faculty members from Radford University and Virginia Tech: Yelena Balabanova, David Widder, Wallace Easter, Teresa Ehrlich, David Jacobsen, Mary Louise Hallauer, Doris Lederer, Clarity James, Caryl Conger and Kats.
In addition, Kate Nettles, a high school student from Roanoke, will perform on oboe. She joins Kats (piano), Widder (clarinet), Easter (French horn) and Husser (bassoon) in Beethoven's Piano Quintet.
Caryl Conger, a pianist and member of Radford University's music faculty, has been participating in the concert for several years. She said it's one event that brings a number of talented musicians together. It also draws music lovers from around the New River Valley.
"We usually get a very nice crowd," she noted. "We have a faithful audience that comes back year after year."
Of course, Conger added, the musicians always like to see new faces in the audience.
"We're hoping for a good turnout," she said. "This is a special concert."
Tickets for tonight's concert in Virginia Tech's Squires Recital Salon.will be available at the door. Admission is $5 for adults and $3 for students. Family tickets are $10. The performance begins at 8.|
LENGTH: Medium: 71 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: ALAN KIM/Staff. Nitza Kats (seated), Kate Nettles andby CNB(from left in rear) David Widder, Wallace Easter and John Husser
will be performing in this year's Rebecca Orr Memorial Concert. The
concert is tonight at Virginia Tech. color.