Those who were fortunate enough to know local musician Mary Beth Norris remember a woman whose life was guided by a deep passion for music, whose commitment to her community was genuine and whose love for her family and friends knew no bounds.

“It felt cool to be the daughter of Mary Beth Norris,” said Catherine Shaw. “Everybody knew who she was. I would go out around town and say, ‘My mom’s Mary Beth Norris,’ and everybody would have their story of her — she taught my son or daughter, or she helped me with this program that I’m trying to get up and running … I heard these stories all the time growing up, and now, looking back, I realize how cool it was that I was the daughter of someone who had such an impact in the community. I’m so proud.”

Norris, who passed away at her home May 19 at age 75, influenced the Steamboat Springs community in many ways, from teaching countless students how to play the flute as a private instructor to founding what became the Steamboat Symphony Orchestra in 1991.

“She was so vivacious,” longtime friend and local pianist Marie Carmichael said. “I’ve never heard her say any words of despair about anybody or anything. She was always smiling and loving and on fire with music.”

Mark Fischer said it was that love of music that first drew him to Norris — the couple’s first date was a concert hosted at an athletic club that overlooked the slopes of the Steamboat Resort.

“I suggested that we go to a concert,” remembers Fischer,” and she said, “‘Well, my mom’s in town.'”

Fischer quickly responded by offering to purchase three tickets and inviting Norris’ mother to the concert. It led to a 36-year marriage filled with music, love and a shared appreciation for cooking. Catherine was the couple’s pride and joy.

“Mary Beth had a very sweet soul,” Fischer said. “She was welcome in any setting and situation. You go out to the Snow Bowl and people are coming over and giving Mary Beth a hug — she always had a very sweet, happy and joyful demeanor.”

Norris grew up in Burdett, a southwestern Kansas town of less than 250 people. Her mother, a classical pianist who played the organ at church, would drive 40-plus minutes each way so that her daughter could take flute lessons from a private teacher in Hays.

After excelling as a flutist in high school, where she was named to regional and state honor bands, she won a national competition offered by Bands of America that allowed her to tour Europe and perform.

She attended Fort Hays State, where she earned a scholarship and received a degree in music. For several years she worked as a music teacher in the Unified School District of Hays before exploring other job opportunities including one in Traverse City, Michigan and another in Telluride. During her journey to Colorado, Norris made an unplanned detour to Steamboat Springs — a place she had visited with her family in the summer to fish and in the winter for skiing.

She ended up moving to Steamboat Springs in 1978, not so much to pursue music — but for the chance to ski. Fischer said that after getting to Steamboat Springs, Norris took a job with Joe Kboudi working at All That Jazz, a local independent record and gift store that was in the Harbor Hotel. Norris used her musical background to bring a classical music section to the store.

Norris didn’t have to wait long for the opportunity to get back into the world of playing classical music. Carmichael, the organist and choir director at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church, began a quest to find a flute player to assist with Sunday mass. Tipped off by a neighbor who didn’t know Norris but could hear her playing, Carmichael learned there was someone living on Hill Street who played the flute.

“I went and knocked on the door, but nobody came,” Carmichael said. “So I went back and got a piece of paper and pencil and thumbtacked a note to the door that said, ‘If anybody in this house plays flute and wants to play, give me a call, and I left my number.”

It didn’t take long for Norris to respond, and she was soon accompanying Carmichael and the choir. It began a lifelong friendship and inspired Norris to pursue her idea of starting an orchestra in Steamboat Springs.

“Mary Beth moved here in the late 1970s, and the music community was very small, and she started a flute studio, which was the first of its kind in Steamboat,” said Lara Craig, chair of the Steamboat Symphony Orchestra board from 2018 until last November. “She also began reaching out to people who did have some experience in music and developed these small ensembles where musicians came together to play music for fun.

It was an extremely grassroots effort and as soon as it got big enough (the orchestra) began to reach out to other associates they knew in Denver to come up and conduct them, and it really was a community orchestra.”  

In the early years, Norris and Carmichael would recruit other musicians to play and even hosted a classical music concert at the high school. One of those musicians was Teresa Steffen Greenlee, the Steamboat Symphony Orchestra concertmaster and education director, who remembers meeting Norris for the first time and immediately realizing her enthusiasm for the Steamboat Orchestra — forerunner of today’s Steamboat Symphony Orchestra.

“I moved to Steamboat Springs 30 years ago and went looking for classical music companions,” Steffen Greenlee said. “Mary Beth was one of the first people I met, and she immediately embraced me and was excited to have me in town.”

Norris encouraged Steffen Greenlee to join the community orchestra. But the violinist had just arrived from Madison after earning both music and law degrees from the University of Wisconsin and playing with the Madison Symphony Orchestra and the Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra. At that time, Steffen Greenlee was more interested in beginning a law career than joining a community orchestra.

Norris was persistent, but instead of pushing Steffen Greenlee to join the orchestra she presented her with an opportunity to learn the Suzuki method and teach Steamboat violin students who were, at the time, being taught by Colorado Symphony Orchestra members traveling here from Denver.

“All of that came from Mary Beth’s enthusiasm for Suzuki education,” Steffen Greenlee said. “I picked up the baton, and I ran with it and created a whole different thing than she may have ever imagined, but she had a vision and I ran with it.”

Steffen Greenlee’s resistance wore down as the orchestra continued to gain momentum. She became concertmaster 25 years ago and heads up the organization’s educational programs today.

“The orchestra was still in its infancy,” Steffen Greenlee recalls. “As soon as I had a few students in town and I felt like they needed leadership, I started playing with the orchestra.”

But she said her relationship with Norris went beyond the orchestra as the two became close friends. Steffen Greenlee said her relationship with Norris and Fischer is more like having a second family.  

“For the past 25 years, I have had Christmas eve dinner with that family, so they’re more family to me than anything else,” Steffen Greenlee said. “It’s weird for me to try to put into words what my professional relationship was with Mary Beth — because there was no line between professional and personal.”

That Steamboat Springs Orchestra was founded in 1991, holding its inaugural concert on Feb. 21. In the 35 years that followed, the orchestra evolved, adding Maestro Ernest Richardson in 2005, integrating professional musicians from the Front Range, and fully transitioning to the professional orchestra it is today. It has also grown its educational programs offering the Strings Sprouts Program, Immersion Weekends, Immersion Summer Camp and High School Orchestra.

Fischer said over the past few years his wife had broadened her focus to include taking time to travel and spend more time with friends and family. She retired from the orchestra a few years ago.

Even while no longer on the stage, Norris remained a regular at all the events and continued to be a big supporter of the Steamboat Symphony Orchestra. Fischer, who took over as the SSO board chair in November, said Norris’ passion for music never faded. She continued to spend time with Carmichael, playing music when she had the chance and singing with the United Methodist Church Choir.

Shaw said her mother was a teacher who guided generations of young students to reach their potential as musicians, as well as the founder of an orchestra that today fulfills our mountain town’s appetite for professional classical music. She was a loving mother who encouraged her daughter to follow her own path.

“She was very proud of her roots in Kansas,” Shaw said. “She made an effort to go back to be with her brothers, be with her mom while she was still around. She was — even with everything she did in Steamboat and around the world — a Kansas girl at heart.”

Shaw said her mother’s legacy encompasses her contributions as a musician, performer and founder of the Steamboat Symphony Orchestra. But what Shaw said she will always remember is the grandmother who would intentionally wear a bright pink hat whenever she hung out with her 14-month-old grandson, Wesley.

“Where I got to see her shine in the last year was as a grandma, and that was special,” Shaw said. “She really enjoyed being grandma and getting to interact with Wesley. She’s had hundreds of children in her life, but getting to see that special relationship between her and my son, and just the light that she brought every time she came in the house was just magical. I’ll never forget it, and it was too short. We didn’t get enough of it.”

A public memorial ceremony for Mary Beth Norris has not yet been scheduled. In lieu of flowers, contributions to the Mary Beth Norris Scholarship Fund or the Steamboat Symphony Orchestra in Honor of Mary Beth Norris Fund can be made at SteamboatSymphony.org.