Butler senior to be part of National Flute Choir
Butler High School senior Nicole Laborie is batting a thousand. She has been selected to be part of the High School National Flute Choir on her first audition.
Laborie, 17, will join 27 other flute players from across the country as part of the ensemble that will perform at the National Flute Association's annual convention Aug. 8 to 12 in Orlando, Fla.
“This was my first year to audition,” Nicole said. “It's open to those in ninth through twelfth grade, but I didn't know about it until this year when my new flute teacher told me about it.”
In addition to playing in the flute choir, Nicole will have the opportunity to attend master classes and recitals as part of the convention.
“I don't know what classes are being offered,” said Nicole.
Her flute teacher, Dan Parasky, owner of Parasky Flute Studios in Wexford, said he recorded Nicole's audition tape in January.
“She'll get a chance to network and attend educational clinics all day,” Parasky said.
“She'll learn valuable information about playing but the biggest takeaway will be the abundance of information from high-level flute players,” he said.
Her mother, Marianne Laborie of Butler, said her daughter has been playing the flute from a young age.
“She attended Butler Catholic School. They start being able to play instruments in the fourth grade. It was just something that she thought would be fun to do,” said Laborie.
Nicole, who also plays the piccolo, is a member of the high school marching and symphonic bands and fills in with the high school orchestra when needed.
“We have a couple of boxes of flute music,” her mother said.
Nicole said of the flute, “I don't know, but I just really liked it. It stuck with me.
“I did some other things — sports and dance and stuff — but I really stuck with it and really got involved with it,” she said.
Nicole added, “It's difficult to pick up. It's one of the hardest instruments to start learning.” She noted she's had three flutes in her musical career, outgrowing the first two.
“I try to practice a little every day when I'm not so busy,” she said, conceding her upcoming high school graduation is eating into her practice time.
“When I was younger, I practiced all the time,” she said.
It's Nicole's dedication that Parasky credits with putting Nicole ahead of her flute-playing peers.
“She has good technique, good breath. Her technique is very good,” he said. “But it's the work ethic. When she is tasked with something she finishes it.”
That commitment served Nicole well in preparing for her audition for admittance to the flute choir at Slippery Rock University, where she will attend come August majoring in music education.
“I got the music for the audition (for SRU) and worked hard on it for about a month before I auditioned,” she said.
She credits Parasky, her earlier flute teachers, Shanna Kelly and Jasmie Lachesky, as well as Jeffrey Kerner, the director of the Butler High marching band for her musical success.
“They put me in the flute choir and I joined the Slippery Rock marching band,” said Nicole. “Band camp starts at the end of August.”
So, it looks like she will have barely unpacked from Florida when she will pack again for going off to college.
“I don't know where her musical aptitude comes from. Her Dad had a trumpet, but I never heard him play. I never attempted to play anything,” said Laborie.
