The Musicians Play On…Maggie Libatique

Meet Maggie Libatique, a member of our viola section…

I started playing the violin when I was 4 years old, and played in my first “orchestra” in StringFest ‘89 – the sticker is still on the case of my 1/8 size violin. I switched to viola when I was 9 years old and unlike many other musicians that can easily toggle between violin and viola, I never went back. At that point in time I was playing with the Jacksonville Symphony Youth Orchestra. I played in many ensembles all the way through college, where I played under the direction of Peter Sacco at UConn.

I joined the CVSO in 2011. I’ve taken a couple breaks from CVSO over the years – a short one after my almost 6 year old daughter was born, a longer one after the births of my 3.5 year old twin daughters, and most recently in 2019 as I was working on a major project at work. I had just returned to CVSO (again) a month prior to the pandemic.

Over the last few months, with no childcare, my husband working from home, and me transitioning to self-employment… it’s been an interesting change of pace for my family!

My little girls and I listen to an egregious amount of Disney movie and Musical soundtracks (at their request), but lately what lifts my spirits is seeing former CVSO member and friend Earle Perez playing the Telemann canonic sonatas with himself: https://www.facebook.com/1040932738/posts/10220995538291759/

During this time at home, my musical focus has shifted to my kids. My oldest daughter started violin 2 years ago, and now her little sisters want to play as well. We are focusing on the very basics. For the 3.5 year olds, that’s holding the bow in the correct hand and not using it as a weapon. For my oldest, the focus is building the muscle memory of good posture: standing up straight, relaxing the left hand to not grip too tight, keeping your bow between the bridge and the fingerboard, remembering where your elbow is when you make a nice sound. All the fundamentals that I take for granted when I play!