60 grads take music to world

Three daughters of Austin came home Friday to visit the town that set them on a lifelong musical path.

Along with seven other Austin High School grads, the Garbisch girls, Marlou, AHS Class of '60; Mimi, Class of '62; and Marsha, Class of '63, were inducted into the new AHS Music Hall of Fame Friday night at the Austin Country Club.

Austin High Yearbooks from that decade show what kind of students they were. The 1960 Austinian lists a full paragraph of activities for Marlou, including French Club, Latin Club, Tri-Hi-Y, Catalina Club, Friendship Club, Thespians and a role in the play "Finian's Rainbow." Apparently French fell out of favor at AHS, but Mimi and Marsha filled in with German and Latin.

But to find the most pictures of the Garbisch girls, one must turn to the pages devoted to music. Mimi, who plays the flute, is there for both band and orchestra, giving her an edge on her sisters who played the violin and couldn't be in the band.

All three play the piano. Asked if they competed with each other in high school, Mimi said "yes and no," but definitely "no" when it came to the piano.

"We all played different music for the piano so that there wouldn't be any competition," she said. "In fact, if you heard someone playing your music you'd run in there and shout 'No! That's mine!'"

The trio visited the home they grew up in at 300 10th Avenue S.W. early Friday afternoon. It is now owned by Joel and Pearl Schieck. Then they gathered at the longtime home of their grandparents, Hubert "Hub" and Lenore R. Garbisch at 1005 4th Street S.W. Built in 1934, that home is an Austin landmark renown for its style, woodwork and tiling. It is now owned by Marv and Becky Repinski.

All three are Carleton College graduates and all have inspiring musical careers:

• Marlou Johnston is a co-founder of Trio Chicago & Friends, a music ensemble that makes annual tours to remote parts of the globe as cultural ambassadors of the United States. She returned from Djibouti (Africa) last month and will be in Mongolia next month. She plays the viola and violin and has been concertmaster and soloist with the Kankakee (Illinois) Symphony Orchestra since 1982. She was formerly the concertmaster of the Civic Orchestra of Chicago.

• Mimi Carlson of Los Gatos, Calif., is principal flute for Ballet San Jose and plays flute and piccolo in the Symphony Silicon Valley. She has a private music studio, teaching more than 200 students.

• Marsha Harbison lives in Longmeadow, Mass. She teaches violin, is a director f the Longmeadow Chamber Music Society and the Springfield, Mass. Symphony Orchestra.

What inspired these three to make music so much a part of their lives?

"The school system here was wonderful from grade school on through high school," their dad, Dick Garbisch, recalls. "They did it themselves," he insists. "We just provided the opportunities."

But Marsha has another point of view. "It was Mom and Dad," she said. "Dad was a great trombone player and mom played the piano."