Birth date: Feb 8, 1956 Death date: Oct 8, 2023
Rosanne and Her Music Rosanne Christensen Smith, fondly called Miss Rosanne by her many students, enjoyed a 52-year music career. She earned a B.A. degree in music education from Brigham Young University and studied violin with Read Obituary
This is such a fond memory of Rosanne! We had just moved away from Oregon and she texted me that she was in town and just wanted to say hi. She was a woman on a mission and was in a huge rush so I begged her to let me drive to where she was and just give her a really quick hug. I jumped in my car, broke speed barriers and made it just in time to give her a quick hug and of course laugh! 😂 We were goofy and had a great five minute conversation before she and Allen had to be on their way. I felt honored that she would even contact me when she was pressed for time! 🥰 I love my friend!❤️
I wanted to share some memories I cherish from my time with Rosanne, and send my love and thoughts to everyone in mourning and especially to Allen.
Rosanne was such a warm, loving person that uplifted everyone around her whether she was aware of it or not. She once told me that the most peaceful feeling was laying her head on Allen's chest, and listening to vibrations when he talked against her ear. That left a long impression on me, that she was a person who really understood love and had the gift of sharing it.
She was one of the few adults in my life as I grew up that made me feel safe, confident, and cared about. She was always there for me with no questions asked no matter what I was going through. Some of my fondest memories in Corvallis are wandering around her and Allen's garden, watching symphonies on the television, and being read the book about the little boy who played the violin during her summer camps. I still have my kites hung up in my apartment.
She is one of my greatest inspirations and role models in life, and when I feel scared or down I remember the treasure chest she told me we all have to store little lessons and skills we learn over our life.
I will forever be grateful to have been so lucky as to have known her, and learned from her.
I was one of the many students Rosanne taught during her Corvallis years. I started learning violin in 6th grade which is extremely late as most people start in elementary school or younger. However, she was dedicated in teaching me and catching me up to where I had to be. I wasn't one of those prodigy kids, I was probably average or below average comparing myself to the kids I played with.
What I liked the most about Rosanne was during my lessons with her she would genuinely care about how I was doing in school, and would ask me things about friends, homework projects, and just how I was doing.
She encouraged me to look at things in a different way or different approach, and would even go out of her way to show me these things within the lesson.
I guess what I'm trying to say is that she not only just taught me how to play the violin but also taught me life lessons and how to be an adult. I miss Rosanne.
I'm so thankful for Allen Smith for sending me an email and letting me know about this.
Here are the Reid daughters with Rosanne in January, 1996. They continue to play violin, giving credit to Rosanne in a comment, below.
I was one of Rosanne's students in the 1990s, in Orange County. I remember most the summer music camps she ran from her house. In those camps, besides the long hours practicing on electronic keyboards or violin behind repurposed voting booths, I remember the lovingly illustrated coloring books retelling the stories of classic operas and ballets, the end-of-camp pool parties that were our reward for a hard week of practice, and of course Rosanne's trademark laughter, whimsical sense of humor, and ever present warmth. She built a community among us students and our parents as well, one that I still miss today.
Now that I'm older, I've come to appreciate her deft balancing of discipline and honest assessments of what I needed to improve as a musician (mostly that I just wasn't practicing enough!), with her constant encouragement and ever present love. She taught me not just how to strive to be better, but how to instill that in the next generation of students. I will miss Rosanne so much!
Rosanne was my mentor and friend. I began as her student maybe five years into playing violin, around the age of twelve, and as I first began to leave purely Suzuki repertoire. We were probably playing the Bach Double at a playthrough when she first was introduced to me as my new teacher. She developed my classical repertoire. I use her fingerings even now on Bach, Thais, Czardas, Preludium & Allegro. One summer her house contained several students in each room, warming up for the first hour by playing repertoire into the wall in the presence of their fellows, at the same time. One student learned all of Zigeunerweisen in just one week of camp. Great team unity developed. We performed for our parents out on her lawn, and made apple cider in her backyard in the fall.
Her wry humor cut to the heart of things in barely a heartbeat. She shaped me as a musician and person. I teach violin, play in bands thanks to the foundation and more that I received as her student. I am deeply grateful.
Rosanne was a fixture of my life for many years, standing next to my parents as an adult I trusted and looked to. I will miss her. Thank you to her and to the music community she enriched in Corvallis.
Music campers take a break from their rigorous practice regimen on Aug. 22, 2002, in Anaheim, Calif., for a photo opp.
Rosanne's Orange County Holiday Strings traveling ensemble performed in venues throughout Southern California, including Disneyland, malls, and special events.
