Born and raised in Boundary County, Roselie Samter has just graduated with a Master's degree in Viola Performance from the Boston Conservatory of Music. She will be in Boundary County for twenty days and is very excited and happy to be in North Idaho sharing her incredible musical talent with her hometown.

Playing the violin has been a way of life for Rosie since she was just four years old. As a home schooled student, she was able to take private lessons from the well-known Carolyn Hatch as well as compete in many competitions.

"When I started, I was so young and I liked it right away," she said. "I was fortunate to have a teacher who taught young children well. It was just something we did as a family. I always had an inner knowing that I would be a musician."

Rosie began attending BFHS as a junior. As an America's Junior Miss contestant, she played the violin for her talent, received a standing ovation from the crowd and won the talent portion of the competition. At the end of her senior year, she played her violin as her Salutatorian speech, saying that she could express herself better with her violin than words.

When she auditioned for Eastern Washington University, she was told that if she played her violin, she would get a scholarship, but if she switched to the viola, she would get a full ride scholarship.

Switching to the viola turned the tide for Rosie and has led her on an amazing musical career. She played with the EWU Orchestra and was the principle violist for 11 of the 12 quarters that she attended the university, playing in the Honors Quartet as well. Upon her graduation, she won the prestigious Yarwood Award for Most Outstanding Graduate of the School of Music. She was then admitted to the graduate program at the Boston Conservatory for Music where she studied under Patricia McCarty who was the assistant principle with the Boston Symphony for over 20 years and is a prominent recording artist.

Currently, Rosie is performing in several musical groups in the Boston area. She plays Irish music with a small trio in the Boston pubs. She also plays with the Boston Chamber Orchestra and recently has begun a whole new chapter in her musical career by playing with the Video Game Orchestra, which is, in her words, "like a rock band with strings." The Video Game Orchestra plays video game music transcribed for orchestra.

"We are connecting with young people on a whole different musical level," Rosie laughed at the seemingly odd combination of video game music performed by an orchestra. "I'm a violist; I'm very classical, but it's so much fun to work with band players when I'm used to orchestra people."

Rosie is grateful for the upbringing she received as a child growing up in Naples.

"I feel like growing up here gave me a connection to music that most classical performers don't have," she emphasized. "I played with the Old Time Fiddlers when I was a kid. Being good at something makes you confident in who you are. Most other classical performers don't have that. I just know that playing music for a living is going to happen for me. I wouldn't be happy doing anything else."

Rosie will be performing three times during her brief stay in Boundary County before returning to Boston. See the Events Section on page 12 for details on her performances.