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Monday, March 1, 2010
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She just keeps on playing EVERYDAY PEOPLE By MIKE O'ROURKE Associate Editor In a music career that predates the Great Depression, Bea Henderson-Sundquist started learning at the side of her adoptive mother, a strict teacher with a fondness for gospel music.
Those early sessions, her only formal music lessons, must have stuck since Henderson-Sundquist has now been teaching piano for more than 70 years and playing for 83 years.
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Bea Henderson-Sundquist has an organ and two pianos in her northeast Brainerd home. The 88-year-old woman started playing piano at age 5 and has taught piano since she was 17.
Brainerd Dispatch/Steve Kohls
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The northeast Brainerd pianist turned 88 on Saturday but still maintains a schedule of keyboard performances and lessons that might wear out a pianist half her age. Sitting at the organ in her living room last week she launched into a jaunty version of "Stars and Stripes Forever" for two visitors. Her hands moved adeptly over the keys and any thoughts that her eyesight might have weakened over the years were dispelled when she pointed out a newspaper headline typo to her guests.
Raised virtually as an only child by an aunt and uncle who adopted her after her mother died, Henderson-Sundquist was attracted to her adoptive mother's piano from an early age.
"By 5 I was dinging around on her piano," she said.
At 13, Henderson-Sundquist's pastor asked her to play at the mid-week church service in her native state of Iowa. She didn't need to be asked twice.
"That was like saying, 'Sic 'em' to a dog," she said.
Bea Henderson-Sundquist
Age: 88.
Residence: Brainerd.
Hometown: Calumet, Iowa.
Family: Married to Carl Sundquist. Four children. Her oldest daughter died in 1997.
Favorite music: Gospel music.
Tips for beginning piano students: Read the notes and count the rhythm.
Two things she likes about Brainerd: The community and the people.
Two things she doesn't like about Brainerd: Fluoridation and the fact that you can no longer buy raw milk.
What age should children start the piano: When they sit at the piano and try to make a melody rather than just pound the keys.
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When she was 17, Henderson-Sundquist charged 25 cents for a half-hour lesson.
The young girl practiced from 8 to 8:30 a.m. each school day. On weekends she played for her own amusement. Her family listened to radio broadcasts of Charles E. Fuller's "Old Fashioned Revival Hour" and the show's featured pianist, Rudy Atwood, became a musical role model.
"I've been geared toward and raised on gospel music," she said.
For 38 years Henderson-Sundquist was the church organist and pianist at a Columbia Heights congregation that was led by her first husband, Doug Henderson. That marriage lasted 60 years. After his death, she married Carl Sundquist about six years ago.
Henderson-Sundquist has played funerals, weddings and at religious services at a host of Brainerd area churches. She currently spends her Sundays playing at the Merrifield Community Church of the Nazarene. She previously had regular stints at the Assembly of God and what was formerly the Community Covenant Church.
The pianist has lived in Brainerd for the past 25 years. She wasn't here two months before she noticed an advertisement from a church looking for an organist.
Along the way she linked up with the Crystal City Quartet, a popular Gospel singing group. She accompanied them for eight years, touring in a bus in a five-state area.
She credits her husband, Carl Sundquist, with supporting her music endeavors.
"He's my chauffeur and my chef," she said.
Henderson-Sundquist regularly volunteers her time and talent at Carefree Living in Brainerd, even though she's older than many of the residents there. She'll play requests and ask residents to "Name That Tune." Older songs are what her audience likes to hear. Some of her regular offerings are "The OldSpinning Wheel," "Bicycle Built for Two," "Three Little Fishies," and "It's a Grand Old Flag." The Carefree Living performances are fun for the residents and practice for Henderson-Sundquist.
The performer doesn't worry about the occasional flub that might occur. She reluctantly admits to engaging in an occasional musical subterfuge that veteran piano players permit themselves.
"I kind of know how to cover my mistakes," she said.
She currently teaches eight students ranging in age from 8 to a man in his 80s. She doesn't always insist that her students learn to play without sheet music.
"I'm not strict on memorizing," she said. "I'd rather they learn to play. I'd rather they enjoyed it a little bit."
While the keyboard is her main musical outlet, over the years Henderson-Sundquist has played mandolin, trumpet, trombone and guitar. She said she enjoys sharing the gift that God has given her.
"Music was in me," she said. "I just had to get it out. It blesses me so much."
MIKE O'ROURKE may be reached at mike.orourke@brainerddispatch.com or 855-5860.
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