Mary Belle Rafert plays a song on the piano in her home. A drawing of her hands on the keys is in front of her on the piano. Her great-granddaughter, Rowan Bolton, stood behind her and drew Rafert’s hands as she played the piano last summer. — The Holyoke Enterprise
Passion for piano
Learning a musical instrument is a process that requires dedication, patience and persistence.
Mary Belle Rafert has all of these qualities and more, and she has been sharing her love of music with her piano students for decades.
She started taking lessons from Anna Lutze when she was 5 years old, and she’s “been at it ever since.”
She herself has been teaching piano lessons since she was a junior in high school, when she started teaching lessons for Lenore Blincow, who was Rafert’s piano teacher since Rafert was in seventh or eighth grade.
She said it is fun for her to this day to play duets on the piano and organ with Pam Vieselmeyer, who was another of Blincow’s students.
Rafert said her parents always encouraged her in her musical pursuits. Her father played violin, and she remembers him playing and singing with custom harvesters. Her practice time with the piano was after dinner.
“I would rather play piano than wash dishes,” she said with a laugh.
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