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It's a commuter's life now for Shaw Mail Tribune / Jim Craven Nanci and Arthur Shaw talk about their move to Bellevue, Wash., while their children, Camden, 11, left, and Katelinn, 14, pack boxes. Arthur Shaw, who has directed the Rogue Valley Symphony for 14 years, will commute during the 21 weeks of the season. Conductor's wife gets Washington job but he'll still lead symphony here By BILL VARBLE ASHLAND - Arthur and Nanci Shaw aren't saying it doesn't hurt to uproot their family. "Nobody is glad to say we're leaving," Arthur says. The director of the Rogue Valley Symphony is standing amid moving boxes, violins and a piano in the house where the family has lived for seven years. "We love this community." After 14 years in the Rogue Valley, the Shaws and their two children are moving to Bellevue, Wash., where Nanci found a full-time job after the Ashland School District cut her already part-time teaching load for the coming school year. The movers are scheduled to come Wednesday. "I never intended to leave this house," she says. Arthur will continue to lead the symphony, commuting from Washington during the season. He expects to spend about 21 weeks of the year in Southern Oregon for rehearsals and performances, staying with friends during visits. He and the symphony plan 20 performances of eight programs in the 2001-2002 season that opens Oct. 6 at the Craterian Ginger Rogers Theater in Medford, plus other performances with various groups. The orchestra typically rehearses twice a week for two to three weeks before programs. Camden Shaw, 11, starts middle school this fall. Katelinn, 14, starts high school. Both were musicians in the Rogue Valley Youth Symphony. Nanci taught two string orchestras at Ashland High School and beginners at both Briscoe and Helman elementary schools in Ashland. Her high school orchestra won a district competition in March, beating perennial winner Grants Pass for the first time in memory. Southern Oregon has been widely seen as a haven for stringed instrument instruction in the schools. In seven years of part-time teaching, Nanci earned a reputation as a demanding, dedicated teacher who built pride in the program. "She's a fabulous teacher," says Gerry Par�, who teaches stringed instruments at Ashland Middle School and worked closely with her. "Kids love her. Her knowledge of strings is so rich. It's been a boon having her. It's a real loss." The Shaws say Nanci's loss of work and income was the key issue in their decision. "Bellevue has a very strong commitment to these programs," Arthur says. "They appreciated Nanci, and they decided to snatch her up full time." Ashland parents this spring signed a petition asking the district not to cut Nanci Shaw's schedule. Superintendent Juli Di Chiro sent parents a letter saying that Nanci's hours would be cut, but that the overall music program would not be affected. Nanci was cut from the elementary schools but kept at the high school. "We were overstaffed in elementary most of the year," Di Chiro says. "Nanci was under a temporary contract called a contract of service. She doesn't have any rights to a job from year to year." Nanci got her first regular contract in September. Di Chiro says according to the district's contract with teachers, that made her the junior music teacher and the one who had to be cut. "I'm sorry she's leaving," Di Chiro says. "I had no choice." The symphony will pay most of the cost for Arthur to commute, sometimes flying and sometimes making the eight-hour drive. The cost will be offset in part by the symphony's no longer having to pay for the family's insurance coverage, which will picked up by the Bellevue school system. "He'll probably be around as long as he wants," Francis Van Ausdal, the symphony's executive director, says of Arthur. "I don't see much change for us, although it's a lot of change for him. The city is losing this musical family." Arthur has conducted the orchestra since 1987, often with innovation. He started a chamber-players-in-the-schools series that now serves 58 schools in three counties. He started the Discovery series of affordable concerts for families. For one concert, he arranged for an actor to read from the works of Martin Luther King Jr. He teamed up with a mask artist to stage Saint-Saens' famed "Carnival of the Animals." He created a film collage of pictures of the universe to go with Johann Strauss' "On the Beautiful Blue Danube," recalling the space station in Stanley Kubrick's "2001, A Space Odyssey." In addition to her teaching duties, Nanci played violin in the orchestra. "She's a very good player," Van Ausdal says. "One of the best in the orchestra." "There's a great deal of sadness," Arthur Shaw says. "We spent 14 years in an absolutely wonderful place." Reach reporter Bill Varble at 776-4478 or e-mail [email protected] Mail Tribune Home | Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. | Dow Jones & Co., Inc. | Privacy | Contact Us Copyright � 2001 Mail Tribune, Inc.