50 years later, she finds music was always there

"My teacher told me, 'Professionals your age are winding down, and you're just getting started,' " Schofield said.

Schofield played all through childhood and into college but left her clarinet in its case for decades to work and raise a family, she said.

She always enjoyed music, but it took a famous clarinetist to bring her back to music, Schofield said.

Jazz musician Pete Fountain came out to speak at a concert she was attending. Schofield told him that she used to play clarinet, too.

Fountain told her, "You get that horn out, and you start tooting," she said.

She started kicking the idea around in her head. About a year ago, Schofield dusted off her old instrument, unused for decades. She found a teacher. She began practicing as often as she could.

It wasn't easy, she said. She had to refurbish her neglected instrument. She had to re-teach herself where to put her fingers.

But Schofield performed a full program Sunday in her neighborhood community center with three other musicians, complete with duets and trios, jazz and classical music.

Even more, she performed with her younger sister for the first time.

Her sister, Susan Aaron, 64, plays the oboe and flew in from her home in Venice, Fla., to take part in the concert.

The sisters come from a musical family. Their father played the piano by ear. Their mother loved the piano, but because she grew up during the Great Depression, she could only afford to take one lesson, Aaron said.

Their mother vowed that both her children would have music lessons, and the two were playing instruments before they were 10 years old, Aaron said.

"She followed through," Aaron said.

But because the sisters were five years apart, they never had the chance to play together in school, Schofield said.

Better late than never.

"It's about time," Aaron said.

Unlike her sister, Aaron never stopped playing. Because she and her husband moved often, she played in community ensembles as a way to make friends. She continues to play in Florida, she said.

Despite the gap in experience, Aaron said her sister is picking it up again quickly.

"If you've got music in you, it doesn't go away," Aaron said.

Their fellow ensemble members agreed. It doesn't matter how old you are: Music doesn't go away.

"That's what my brother says," said Elaine Goetz, 72, who played piano accompaniment in the concert.

Sunday's program was appropriately named "Swinging at 50 and Beyond."

"My mother is probably smiling down from heaven," Schofield said.

"If you've got music in you, it doesn't go away."

Susan Aaron

who performed recently with her sister