By Susan Bromley
Staff Writer
Groveland Twp.- She was playing songs on the piano as a toddler.
By 5, she was taking violin lessons. At age 13, she was competing and winning music awards. She has traveled to Europe to play concerts.
But it is only now, at the age of 18, that Laurie Matheson finally has confidence.
‘For the first time in my life, I feel smart,? said the Groveland resident. ‘I feel like I can do something with my life.?
Matheson was 3-years-old when she sat down at her family’s piano and began picking out notes to Christmas carols. Her parents decided to homeschool her so she could focus on and dedicate most of her hours to pursuing music.
In that pursuit, she has won numerous awards? playing the piano, violin, viola and singing. She joined the Flint Youth Symphony playing concerts in England in 2002 and in France in 2004. This spring she played with international musicians at the Whiting Auditorium in Flint.
But a year ago, when she stopped homeschooling and entered the Waterford General Baptist Academy, she wasn’t sure if she would be graduating on time. Although she was testing at a college level for music, she was testing at a fourth-grade level in subjects like English and math.
She participated in the PACE program at the school, in which she had to pass each unit of study before advancing to the next.
‘I felt illiterate before I went to the academy,? Matheson said. ‘People would tell me I was smart, but I didn’t believe it.? She doesn’t regret her homeschooling, crediting it with where she is today with her music. Matheson tutors private students and plans to pursue music education in the fall. She wants to be a private teacher and also be a conductor for a full symphony orchestra. Composing music comes easily to her, she says, and she would like to publish her own arrangements. Professionally recording vocal music is also a goal.
‘Music is what I breathe,? says Matheson. ‘Being without music is like not having oxygen.?