Burl Allen Spencer
I was only 12 years old when I began instruction under Mr. Lowry. Before that he had only worked with college students. But he agreed to take me on, and a few months later suggested I audition for the Tulsa Youth Symphony. I surprised him and everyone else by winning a chair as an eighth grader, then four years later he encouraged me to audition for the Tulsa Philharmonic, and I won the chair going into my senior year of high school.
Mr. Lowry had some unusual lessons where we perform unusual exercises with the bow, play the violin part on a viola, then switch and play the viola part on violin. He was an extraordinary player and coaxed such a beautiful tone from his instrument.
He had many outside interests, like photography, the stock market, creating cards and analyzing handwriting. Most everything he explained was an effort to inform, not impress. I truly loved the man and I'm so sorry I only learned about this three years later.
Burl A. Spencer
