Noted pianist Carter dies in river

Former Kalispell resident Monty Noboru Carter drowned Sunday in the Wenatchee River in Leavenworth, Wash.

Carter, 43, a piano prodigy in his youth in the Flathead Valley, was a music teacher and girls basketball coach at The Northwest School in Seattle.

According to the Seattle Times, Carter had been hiking with some friends before the group decided to cool off in a part of the river locals call Barn Beach.

“Mr. Carter got too far out into the water, which is running a bit higher because of the hot weather and the melting snow,” John Wisemore, chief of operations for Chelan County sheriff’s office, told the Seattle Times.

“We’re not sure if it was hypothermia … we’re not sure why he wasn’t able to get out.”

Carter, who was born in Okinawa, Japan, in 1969, grew up in the Flathead Valley, attended Cayuse Prairie School and graduated from Flathead High School.

Carter began his musical career in Libby where he studied piano at age 4 with teacher Marion Reynolds. After moving to the Flathead Valley a year later, he continued his musical studies with Kay Lund and Billie Brown.

In a 1977 Inter Lake article, Brown had high praise for Carter: “He’s got quite a bit on the ball. He’s got a tremendous amount of natural ability and he must have a high IQ because he picks up things fast.”

He began entering national competitions at age 12 and went on to study piano at the University of Michigan under a full scholarship.

He later earned a master’s degree at Yale University, where he studied with noted pianists Nina Lelchuk and Claude Frank.

Although he left Kalispell in 1989, Carter was well known throughout the 1990s for his performances at the Flathead Festival.

Prior to his 1992 concert, Conductor Gordon Johnson, who was then in charge of the Glacier Orchestra as well, said Carter  was “probably the finest pianist to ever grow up in the Flathead.”

In addition to his musical talent, Carter was a gifted athlete.

His love of basketball had led him, in 1996, to have to shorten his performance at the Flathead Festival because he injured the fourth finger of his right hand while playing basketball three days before the concert.

“As a result of the injury, Carter was unable to play the Beethoven Appassionata Sonata listed in the program and he also omitted several of the Fantasiesticke of Schumann. He vowed to return when he was healed and play those pieces for his friends in the Flathead,” a story in the Inter Lake reported later. His encore performance was free to the public.

In Seattle, Carter spent time on the faculty of Western Washington University as well as the Seattle Conservatory of Music.

In 1999, he began working as a music teacher at The Northwest School, where he also coordinated musical productions and for a time was music department chairman.

“Monty had a beautiful connection with our students. He was a beloved foundation in our community, both teaching and coaching,” Margie Combs, director of communication for the school, told the Wenatchee World.