Virginia Miller Carson

CARSON, Virginia Miller, 80, departed this life on September 20, 1010. She was preceded in death by her parents, Whitman and Margaret Carson. She is survived by two sisters, Katharine Carson in New York City and Jane Carson of Richmond, Virginia; and a brother, James Carson, and his children, James Jr. and Laura of Atlanta, Ga. Virginia was born July 7, 1930, in Bristol, Virginia. She attended Virginia Intermont College before going to Vienna, Austria to study musicology and piano. She attended Yale University's School of Music, receiving B.M. and M.M. degrees by 1956. She taught music at Converse College in Spartanburg, S.C. (1957 to 1959). Then she went to Japan to teach music from 1959 to 1965 at Doshisha Women's College in Tokyo. She then taught at the University of Georgia from 1970 to 1975. In 1976 she joined the faculty at Virginia Union University, retiring from there in 2001. She continued to give private piano lessons until 2010. At Virginia Union, she taught classes, as well as composed music for special events. She often accompanied the school choir and personal choral groups led by Odell Hobbs, on campus and in a number of performances in and out of state. She played at Alice Tully Hall in New York City, and also for Richmond soloist Martin Strother when he sang for the Republican National Convention in Texas. She frequently accompanied Karen Savage in solo performances in Richmond, Washington, D.C., and other cities. Additionally, she served as director of music for several churches in the Richmond area, including Pace Memorial United Methodist Church (1982 to 2001) and Laurel Park United Methodist Church (2002 to 2008). There are many friends who will miss her musical performances and personal relationships. Her life will be celebrated in a memorial service at Laurel Park United Methodist Church, 2700 Hungary Road on Sunday, September 26. at 4 p.m.


This obituary was originally published in the Richmond Times-Dispatch.