A Culture of Excellence

The low-hanging, gunmetal clouds presented a feel of winter that was far too familiar, despite the fact that the calendar clearly told us that we were a good week into spring.

Inside Room 117 of the Hershey Center for the Arts this gloomy, drizzly, raw Tuesday afternoon, however, the Fifth-Sixth Grade Strings Ensemble was joyously at work, rehearsing “Allegro Gustoso” by Jeremy Woolstenhulme for an upcoming performance with a measure of earnestness and alacrity that belied the gloominess of the day.

 

“My kids come in. They smile. They get their instruments out and start practicing,” said Helen Coulson, Collegiate’s director of instrumental music. “It’s a time of gathering. Everyone’s a team player. When they walk out, they say, ‘Thank you.’”

 

Helen arrived at Collegiate in 1993 to lead a program that numbered just seven students at the time. As she approaches retirement, 19 instructors, five of whom also teach classes throughout the three divisions, serve 300-plus instrumental music students, K-12.

 

In addition to providing private violin lessons, Helen oversees a host of ensembles which perform in concerts, assemblies, graduations, convocations, holiday services, and any other Collegiate event where fine music would enhance the ambiance.

 

“Helen is always professional,” said Connie Tuttle, her long-time colleague. “The repertoire she chooses for her students is top drawer. She makes every student feel an important part of the ensemble. The Coulson era will be remembered for the tradition of excellence that she’s developed.”

 

Music has been part of Helen’s life for as long as she can remember. She hails from a long line of musicians. She lived most of her youth in Birmingham, AL, in a household where she and her four siblings studied piano thanks to the influence of their maternal grandmother Sarah Helen Torbert, a concert pianist.

 

They also studied an instrument of choice. Helen chose the violin.

 

“We went to a family reunion in New Hampshire,” Helen said. “My aunt (Margaret Duesenberry) was a professional violinist in the Boston area. She started me with lessons at age 10. I went back to Birmingham and started taking lessons and continued with piano (which she had begun four years earlier).

 

Helen’s father (Russ Coulson, an aerospace engineer) volunteered as an administrator with the Birmingham Youth Orchestra, and each week after church, the family piled into the car and headed off to rehearsals.

 

“That’s how we spent our Sundays: three hours of music practice,” she said. “Our summer vacations were going to see family. We all had a love for chamber music. We would get together and play string quartets.”

 

After high school, Helen enrolled at Converse College (Spartanburg, SC) to study music. During her freshman year, she shifted her focus solely to the violin.

 

“The violin is a melodic instrument, a solo instrument as well,” she said. “I figured out that it’s portable, and I could take it with me and make music with my friends. Converse had a small music department, and I was a big fish in a small pond. I got so much attention, so much encouragement. And I loved my violin teacher (Jerrie Cadek Lucktenberg). It’s all in the teacher…the influence your teacher has on you.”

 

Little could Helen imagine at the time, but hundreds of her own protégés now say the same about her.

 

After her time at Converse, Helen put herself through the Eastman School of Music at the University of Rochester by playing the violin in the Syracuse Symphony.

 

“Back and forth 100 times a year for concerts and rehearsals,” she noted with a smile at the memory of the 90-mile commute. “Drove through a lot of snowstorms.”

With a Master of Music in performance and literature on her résumé, she began a round of auditions. Ultimately, Jacques Houtmann, the renowned conductor, invited her to join the Richmond Symphony.

 

“It was an exciting life,” Helen said. “Did a lot of traveling. Went on tour a lot. Worked every weekend: people’s leisure time. Even went through two symphony strikes pounding the pavement.”

 

In August 1993, Helen, who had taught private violin lessons at St. Catherine’s for several years, learned that Collegiate was seeking a visionary leader to expand the instrumental program in the newly constructed Fine Arts Building.

 

“I don’t know why I inquired, to tell you the truth,” she said. “It was one of those career paths that comes in front of you. I had no intention of leaving the Symphony, but I went over and talked to (Head of School) Rob (Hershey). Back then, you got hired on the conversation. I could never get a job here now. He said, ‘Tell me where to mow.’”

 

Using her training, innate musical instincts, and strong interpersonal skills, Helen went to work. She quickly created several ensembles. More and more students opted to take private lessons. She hired more instructors. The program soon outgrew the small studios tucked behind the choral music room.

 

“We started infringing on other rooms,” she said. “I had so much freedom to do what I wanted to do. The first 10 years were very exciting in terms of growth. The challenges were how this program would fit into a school full of programs that had been here at least 50, sometimes 75 years. Eventually we found our voice.”

 

Helen’s narrative begs the question: Is performing or teaching more enjoyable?

 

“Twenty-five years ago,” she responded, “I set out to answer that question. Somewhere along that journey, it was very easy for me to know that the joy you get from relationships far exceeds the joy that you get from sending a message with an instrument. However, there is no feeling like being on a stage with 100 musicians playing Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony.

 

“When you teach, it comes back to you. Students give you so much more than you ever give. It’s been my desire to help them find their passion. There’s just no way to measure that. I had a very happy childhood and adolescence. I would really like to see all of the Collegiate students be happy and thrive. This is their safe haven. We have so much to give them.”

 

Helen has been described as strong and resilient; organized and precise; generous with her time, talent and affection for her students; loyal, wise, unflappable, and gracious. A stabilizing influence. A mentor. Humble.

 

Upon hearing these perceptions, Helen shifted uncomfortably in her seat. She smiled a bit self-consciously. She attempted to change the subject. It was clear that she was very reluctant to respond.

 

“It’s just what I do,” she said, finally. “I love music so much, and I love teaching it. I don’t spend a lot of time thinking how I’m perceived. I spend most of my time thinking how I can reach a child.”