ARTS Melody Welsh-Buchholz: Executive Director of Louisville Youth Orchestra HOME LIFE Originally from Vincennes, Indiana, Melody and her husband, Dennis Buchholz, live in Crestwood, Kentucky. WHAT’S IN A NAME? Whether it was intuition or self-fulfilling prophecy, Melody’s mother — a pianist and piano teacher — chose well when naming her daughter. “I knew I was going to go into music by eighth grade,” Melody says. “At first my mother was giving me piano lessons, but as is typical in these motherdaughter situations, it did not go well. So in an effort to keep the music going, I said, ‘I’m going to play the clarinet,’ and ended up in my band program all through middle school and high school.” Melody later took up the saxophone so she could play in the jazz band, then added flute to her repertoire.
she says. “In my fifth year there, I was offered the position of executive director, and I haven’t looked back.” Although she doesn’t always enjoy the desk-bound aspects of her position, Melody loves being around the creative energy of the students. “Sometimes professional musicians can get a little jaded after many years of playing the same thing over and over again, but with the Youth Orchestra, it’s always exciting. The kids are there because they want to continue to grow and learn their craft and to be part of this unit that makes great music. And every year it’s a changing ensemble as some students graduate and new ones come in.”
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DANCES WITH HORSES When she’s not perfecting her music, Melody works on perfecting a different skill. “I ride dressage,” she says. “A lot of people might be surprised by that because they know how horribly unathletic I am, but I just got my bronze medal this past year.” Melody didn’t start riding until her mid-40s, but she quickly got hooked. “Dressage so very much mirrors music. It’s like dancing with your horse, and the moves have to be precise and on target. You have to practice and do them over and over again until they’re perfect. It’s just like when you’re practicing an instrument as a professional musician — all of these little things coming together to make that presentation just right.”
go into music by eighth grade.
THE BEAT OF HER OWN DRUM Few people supported Melody’s choice of career path when she was young. “My father said he wanted me to have one other option besides music, but I couldn’t pick anything because I had always just wanted to be a musician. I finally settled on pharmacy, which was something I plucked out of the air to make my father happy, but I obviously didn’t go in that direction.” Melody stayed the course and earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees in music at the University of Louisville. “Once I was in the business, both my father and my mother were very supportive of my choice,” she says. After teaching music in area schools for several years, Melody moved into the private teaching sector. She also performs with the Louisville Orchestra and as a pit musician for PNC Broadway in Louisville, playing several instruments including clarinet, saxophone, flute, and oboe. “I had toyed with the idea of going to New York, but then I decided that I really didn’t want to wait tables while I was trying to make my big break,” she says. “I stayed here in Louisville, and it’s been very good.” MUSIC TO HER EARS Melody first joined the Louisville Youth Orchestra in 1985. “I started out as the wind/ brass coach, then kind of moved up the ranks,”
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HANDS IN THE DIRT Growing up, Melody loved to spend weekends on her grandmother’s farm. “I helped her do things like milk the cows and churn the butter, and I would spend all day playing with my cousins in the dirt,” she says. Watching her grandmother work the earth inspired Melody’s passion for gardening. “As soon as I had a home that had a little bit of dirt, I started growing vegetables.” Melody now actively works a 75-by-100-foot vegetable garden on her 10-acre property. “I have way too many vegetables for just me and my husband to eat,” she says. “I end up giving 90 percent of it away, but I’m still out there every year doing more and more. I’m terrible with flowers, but I love vegetables.”
PRACTICE MAKES PERFECT As a working musician, Melody has to carve out time to practice for performances. “It’s a constant process of keeping up your chops,” she says. “There’s a saying in the business that if you miss one day of practice, you know it; if you miss two days of practice, your friends know it; and if you miss three days of practice, everybody knows it.”