Interview – Kay Georgi

Name: Kay Georgi

City, State of Residence: Rockville, MD

Occupation: International Trade Lawyer

Favorite Instrument to Play: Euphonium

Kay was born and raised in Upstate NY, where she attended law school. She then moved to the Washington, D.C. area in 1989. She plays in the Rockville Concert Band and the Rockville German Band. In addition to loving music, she is a self-proclaimed “CrossFit nut” and likes to garden and travel.

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Village Virtuoso: When did you first realize you wanted to play a brass instrument? What drew you to euphonium?

Kay Georgi: I started playing baritone when I was five years old. I had to turn the horn sideways to reach the mouthpiece. Why did I start? Well, almost everyone else in my family played an instrument and my two sisters played trumpet and French horn, so there’s that, and the fact that my Dad had an extra baritone probably influenced me towards brass. But I also tried violin as a kid, guitar as an adult, and have been trying to learn the accordion for the past five years.

VV: Did you continue playing into adulthood?

KG: I did have a 20-year hiatus after college until my son was five years old. I took him to Victor Litz for his first guitar lesson and saw a big sign: “New Euphonium Lessons!” I took that as a sign that I needed to take euphonium lessons while he was taking guitar.

VV: When you started, how did your friends/family/teachers react?

KG: My Dad (who also played baritone, trumpet, accordion, and some other instruments) taught me for the first few years, and my Dad and sisters played brass quartets in local churches. No one thought it was strange – why should they?

VV: What’s your favorite genre to play?

KG: I like lots of different genres – big band, swing, classical. There’s not much rock written for euphonium I am sorry to say, but there is pop – my last solo (Dec 2018) was Frozen’s Let It Go.

VV: Do you get surprise/negativity from anyone now?

KG: No, I have never gotten any negativity from anyone (or maybe I have a thick skin?).

VV: Any other projects on the horizon?

KG: Accordion is a continuing project. After that I have an Alphorn I bought on Ebay a few years ago that I still need to learn to play. After that it’s time to learn my Dad’s harmonicas (he had an awesome collection including a special silo tone enhancer he invented for them). Then maybe the bagpipes? I doubt that I will learn all of them but that’s my current wish list!