While many young people have brief experiences with music lessons, Marion (Gallup) Drummond’s life has featured the piano as a constant presence, and she is still teaching at the age of 90. Her mother was a pianist, too. “I fell in love with the sound of the piano, and by the age of 3 I was pleading with my mother to teach me how to play,” recalls Marion, who will share her story and some music in the next Kendal At Home virtual event, “Second Act, 87 Years of Piano with Marion Drummond,” on Wednesday, September 7, at 1:00 P.M. EST.
Growing up outside of Pittsburgh, Marion studied first with her mother, and then with her mother’s teacher, Eunice Norton, who was a renowned Steinway concert artist who had performed everywhere from Carnegie Hall to Europe and Russia. After a brief time at Oberlin College’s Conservatory Of Music, where she met her future husband, Robert (Bob) Drummond, she transferred to Pennsylvania College For Women (now Chatham University). There she majored in Voice and Music Theory while continuing her private piano studies with Eunice Norton.
In 1954 Marion and Bob were married and settled into life in Oberlin, where Bob had joined the Conservatory’s faculty as a Professor of Music Theory. The couple would have 3 children, Marion would become a Certified Music Educator, and she began teaching private piano lessons to students of all ages – at one point giving more than 30 lessons per week.
Fast forward several decades, and Marion joined Kendal At Home upon its founding in 2004. After Bob passed in 2010, Marion continued to be deeply involved in music – teaching piano, singing in choirs, and co-chairing The Friday Music Club Of Oberlin.
Marion still has 2 adult piano students who have studied with her for decades. “I continue to derive great pleasure from both my teaching and my playing”, she says. “I feel so fortunate to have been able to explore my love of music throughout my lifetime, and to have such wonderful support from family, friends, and students the entire time.”
Join us September 7 to hear more from Marion.
