MaryBeth Keller – C Flute

After a lifetime of traveling and moving as an Army brat, I have lived in Annandale, Virginia, for the last 27 years, with my husband, Brian. We have 3 adult children, all of whom also live in Northern Virginia. I attended the North Carolina School of the Arts in Winston-Salem, NC, for one year of college studying with Philip Dunigan, and then obtained a B.A. from Catholic University in Washington, DC, where I studied flute with Wally Mann. I earned my JD from the University of Virginia School of Law. I retired in 2019 after 31 years with the federal government, where I was an attorney and judge in the Department of Justice (DOJ). I served as the General Counsel for the Executive Office for Immigration Review, an Assistant Chief Immigration Judge, and ultimately, the first female Chief Immigration Judge.

I started playing flute in the 4 th grade, after my mom, a French Horn player, told me to “pick a small instrument!” It took me 2 weeks to get a sound out, and I almost quit. But didn’t! I made it into the Alexandria All-City Band in elementary school and had a fabulous flute teacher in junior high when we lived in Germany named Carol Zajac, who pushed my performance ability to the next level. On our return to the US, I went to some HS competitions and started getting into All State Bands, won a concerto competition with a UNC Orchestra, was invited to the NC Governor’s School for music, and was selected for the McDonald’s All-American HS Band. The latter experience included playing in the Macy’s Parade in NYC, the Rose Bowl parade in Pasadena, as well as doing a concert at Carnegie Hall where I got to play a solo with Lionel Hampton on the vibes!

I was studying music performance until my junior year of college, when I decided to go to law school. Throughout law school, I played weddings and events mostly as part of a duo with a guitar player. I missed my chance at rock greatness when my classmate John Hornsby, (Bruce Hornsby’s brother), told me we should jam when he learned I played flute. I didn’t take him up on it. Bruce’s album The Way It Is then came out…and the rest is history. Then I was out of the organized group playing business for the years I was working, not touring with Bruce Hornsby, and having kids, haha!

In 2012, my son’s high school band director, who also conducted the Vienna Community Band, invited his students and any parents who played to join the band. Adam Hilkert was a brilliant conductor and musician, who went on to conduct several Army bands, and inspired me to re-energize my playing. Since then, I have played whenever I can, with several small ensembles, other community bands, with my neighbors during COVID (!), and I joined the Woodbridge Flute Choir in 2023 after meeting Debbie Gilbert at her After-Work Adult Flute Camp! The WFC has a great reputation and has really challenged me to up my game. I love that Debbie pushes us to play cutting edge compositions alongside known and beautiful favorites and presents us with a broad range of musical genres and pieces with varying levels of musical difficulty. I also appreciate the community-based focus of the group. And, I have loved meeting so many talented flutists. Bringing such high-quality music to NoVa audiences is so much fun, and I hope

the WFC is around for at least another 30 years offering its talents and benefits to both the musicians who play and the groups who listen and cheer us on!