Waterford — When Joan Winters' parents wanted her to play the violin, she sprinted out of the house.

Thankfully for Winters and the regional music scene, they chased after her. Eventually, she connected with the instrument, which as a fourth grader she considered "squeaky."

Winters, 58, says it was "La Cinquantaine," by French composer Jean Gabriel-Marie, that marked the turning point, leading to dreams of playing and writing film scores and, later, three decades of playing in the Eastern Connecticut Symphony Orchestra and teaching classical music to Waterford youth.

"That was a piece that I remember playing forever," said Winters, surrounded by music stands in her empty high school classroom last week. In just a few minutes, she'd shuffle off to Clark Lane to teach lessons there — an almost daily back-and-forth since 1986.

"I'm always living in the next," Winters said, mapping out retirement plans with gusto. "It's been a great place to come every day. But I'll find more great places to fill its spot."

The long-time orchestra director at Waterford middle and high schools looks forward to traveling the U.S. and perhaps Europe, writing a book and spending time with her three young grandchildren.

Winters will join her husband, Shane Winters — the former Montville marching band instructor and assistant principal at Ledyard — in retirement. She sees more kayaking, paddle boarding and biking in her future.

"I'm healthy," she said. "I could stay here forever and be happy, but then I'd miss what's on the other side."

Clark Lane music teacher Barbara Comstock-King said Winters would be missed.

"She is a delight to work with, a consummate professional, and she thinks outside the box," Comstock-King said, adding that Winters was "an incredible musician."

Comstock-King noted Winters' creation of a large, local orchestra festival almost 20 years ago saved cash versus paying package fees to send students to judging festivals at Lake Compounce or Six Flags. About 200 students, grades 4 through 12, filled the high school auditorium to perform together at the local festival last week.

'Just listening to the music'

Winters, who lives in East Lyme, grew up in Shrewsbury, Mass., learning piano with her family before starting to master the violin.

An Ithaca College graduate, Winters was inspired by the music and lifestyles of John Williams, George Gershwin and Leonard Bernstein.

"I always wanted to go out west and play in the film scores," she said. "Whenever I watch a movie or anything, I'm watching, but I'm really just listening to the music."

When she met Shane Winters, she focused on education, deciding it was "more fruitful and economical ... and I can always play, I don't need a piece of paper to do that."

Living in upstate New York before her husband started working in Montville, Winters worked a mix of jobs — waitressing, flipping burgers, retail at Rite Aid and serving as a remedial reading teacher's aide.

"In order to do the stuff you love, you have to sacrifice something," she said, noting she always made time to practice.

Then, after moving to Connecticut with her husband, she found a part-time gig at Waterford. The program has since grown from its initial four students to several dozen in both the high school and middle school.

Seeing and helping students' progress is the most rewarding part of the job, Winters said.

"To take what's on the page and make something out of it, and making kids aware that they're able to do that ... it's fascinating to watch," she said. "Here's an instrument, and I'm gonna put it in your hand, and through training ... you can do it."

'Engaging, enriching and exciting'

Winters said she'll miss "engaging, enriching and exciting" the students every day; the words are written on the classroom whiteboard.

"If you don't do that, you should do something else," she said.

It's fortunate, both Winters and her colleagues said, that she overflows with energy.

"She's created a real love of music in the community," said Lynn Masciarelli, the Great Neck Elementary School music teacher taking over for Winters next year. "She's always had this incredible energy. She's been very involved in the Connecticut Music Educators Association, run festivals, auditioned kids. She jumps in whenever there's a need."

Aaron Robarge, Clark Lane's band director, said Winters never seeks praise "but does all these extra things."

"She'll stay up until midnight practicing, and then we'll get an email from her at 4:30 a.m.," he said. "She's exactly the kind of person you want to work with."

Winters said she doesn't need much sleep and added, "If I'm asking them to play and practice all the time, I should be doing it, too."

Over the years, Winters loved connecting with students — knowing which one likes Jolly Ranchers, which one dances, and when one needs a joke or a story or to hear the word "disappointed."

"This is public," she said. "It's not like if you don't do your math homework, you don't get credit and we go to the next chapter. We're on stage. Everybody sees. If these people don't practice and I don't do my job here, it's evident."

Preferring one-on-one encouragement and describing herself as "not a hollerer," Winters lamented that students generally don't practice at home as much as they used to. But she sympathized with them because they're inundated with activities and work — "AAU sports, music lessons, Boy Scouts, dancing ... there's so many things now, and how do you draw that line?"

Sophomore Ryan Dombroski said in his five years in Winters' class, she has helped improve students' skills and "offered numerous enrichment opportunities," including performances by the Berklee World Strings group and several orchestra events at UConn.

"She has been an inspiration for me and everyone in the program and is one of the most passionate teachers I have had," Dombroski said.

Masciarelli said it was "a privilege and an honor" to fill Winters' spot. She said interviews to replace her at Great Neck were "going extremely well."

"The program is going to keep moving forward, and it's a great thing, especially with so many other programs that, when budgets get tight, these are the places they look to cut. Waterford doesn't do that," Masciarelli said.

b.kail@theday.com