A love of music was passed down from father to son in the Lumley family. It's the french horn in particular the two men love the most.
Marc Lumley currently works as the band director at Churchill Middle School. His son, Claude graduated from Boerne High School where he was an active member of the band. He's now a senior at Baylor.
For two years, Claude tried to get into the Brevard Music Festival in North Carolina. But it was during his most recent audition that he hit a sour note. Someone stole his $7,100 french horn out of the trunk of his car.
Marc said, "It happened 2 days after we finished the last payment on it." Claude's mother, Monica said, "Claude didn't want to call home, and let us know his horn had been stolen. He was upset, scared, nervous."
Claude borrowed another french horn from a friend in order to finish the audition. It made the already nervewrecking experience even more stressful. Marc explained, "When you have something like that stolen, and you're in the middle of something so important, you really have to adjust your focus in order to succeed."
Claude pulled through. He finally reached his goal. He was awarded one of 10 spots in the Brevard festival in which Keith Lockhard, the director of the Boston Pops, will be the director.
But after getting so close, Claude may not be able to go after all. Insurance money paid only a small amount toward the stolen horn, and the Lumley's used all of the money they could scrounge to buy Claude another french horn. The family doesn't have enough money now to send Claude to Brevard for the 7 week long music festival.
One of Claude's friends created a Facebook page in an effort to send Claude to Brevard. His family also says people can send any help with Brevard tuition money to Claude Lumley, French horn, College Division, Texas at Brevard Music Center, P.O. Box 312, Brevard, NC 28712.
