GILLETTE, WYOMING S GILLETTE NEWS RECORD S Monday, July 17, 2017 PAGE B3

AROUND THE RODEO

A symphony of talent
Idaho queen contestant also an accomplished violinist
By PATRICK FILBIN S NEWS RECORD WRITER S pfilbin@gillettenewsrecord.net

O
ne of Moira Tabers earliest
memories is from Christmas Day
when she was 3 years old.
She remembers her older brother open-
ing up a guitar from Santa Claus. The first
thing she did when she saw it was grab a
pencil and started to play it like a violin.
Fast forward a few years later and Taber
started to play the violin, for real this time,
when she was in fifth grade. Most of the
kids in her class all started in fourth grade,
making her a year behind the rest of the
band.
Starting a year late, let me tell you, was
not easy, Taber said. During those first
two years, I really had to teach myself to
catch up to everyone else. I had to be real-
ly dedicated.
Taber has been so dedicated to the
instrument that shes now her orchestras
concert master, meaning shes the leading
first violin player.
The concertmaster is the second-most
significant person in an orchestra after
the conductor. There are about 15 people
in her advanced orchestra ensemble and
she estimates that she practices anywhere
from three to five hours a day on either the
News Record Photo/ Ed Glazar
violin or the upright bass.
Rodeo Queen Moira Taber of Shoshone, Idaho, is a first year nation- Taber is from the small town of
al contender, as well as a dedicated violin and string bass player. Shoshone, Idaho, and is competing in her
What comes to mind to me
is that both require a lot of
finesse. There is finesse in
everything from having the
horses walk a certain way to
making sure your fingers are
hitting exactly the right places
on a violin.
MOIRA TABER
Idaho queen contestant about the
discipline it takes to compete in
rodeo and play a musical instrument.
first National High School Finals Rodeo
queen contest this year.
Growing up in a small town suited
Taber. She never was really a talker grow-
ing up. She said that for a long time she
would only speak to her immediate family
when she was a little girl.
Over the last few years Ive really
grown out of my shell, she said. Ive real-
ly found my voice that I can speak with.
Taber is looking forward to the speech-
es and modeling portion of the queens
contest to show off her newly discovered
voice. Shes not traditionally trained in
queening; rather, she has learned the
do-it-yourself way.
I like to describe myself either as the
most interesting uninteresting person
youll ever meet or the most uninteresting
interesting person, she said.
Growing up in a small town of about
1,000 is an experience that cant be repli-
cated, Taber said.
Growing up, I loved living in such a
small town, she said. I never had any
queen coaching or anything like that.
I really found my niche in my schools
orchestra.
Taber finds a lot of similarities with
playing an instrument like violin to com-
peting in the queen contest.
Like anything else, it takes a lot of
practice to perfect both skills, she said.
But what comes to mind to me is that
both require a lot of finesse. There is
finesse in everything from having the hors-
es walk a certain way to making sure your
fingers are hitting exactly the right places
on a violin.
As she does during her orchestra con-
certs, Taber hopes to take the lead and
have the rest of the pack follow along
during the NHSFR.

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By NEWS RECORD STAFF second day of competition, 97 Different Scents & 47 Designs
starting at 1p.m. Wednesday.

Colorado has at least one
championship to defend at
the National High School
Finals Rodeo, but it wont
happen in any arena or on the
shooting range.
The Centennial State won
the annual volleyball tour-
nament, sponsored by the
Campbell County Recreation
Center, in 2016.
The tournament is played
north of the Wyoming Center
at the Cam-plex Plaza starting
at 1p.m. Tuesday.
There are 48 teams overall
that are divided into four
regions.
The top four teams from
each region make it to the
Ready to Rodeo!
Those four teams battle
until there is one region Come see our booth at the
champion.
NHSFR trade show.
From there, the region
champs play in the semifinals July 16-22
to determine the overall title
match.
Last season, Colorado, the Check out our booth on the
Region 1 champion, beat upper level Wyoming Center
Region 3 champion Oregon in
one semifinal. Texas (Region
4) beat Manitoba, Canada,
(Region 2) in the other to set
up a final match of Colorado
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