FAIRBANKS — When Avalon Lee felt the powerful, booming vibrations radiating through the floor from the double bass her fourth-grade teacher was playing, she knew it was the instrument for her.

She was 10 years old and her teacher, Sheryl Frey, was playing the “Star Wars” theme song. It was in a seminar for students looking to join either band or orchestra at Weller Elementary School.

Since then, Lee has gone practically pro with the double bass. A 2009 Lathrop graduate, Lee is the assistant principal bassist for the Peabody Institute at Johns Hopkins University. She was recently accepted to study at the prestigious Eastern Music Festival in Greensboro, N.C. More than 800 people from across the globe applied, but only 200 were selected. The festival began Saturday and lasts five weeks.

The festival is designed to prepare musicians for the next level of their music careers, whether that’s college or pursing master’s degree or higher.

“We’re a pre-professional program,” said Melissa Edwards, director of admissions for the program. “We treat them like a professional musician, what it’s like in terms of learning a new program each week and learning new repertoire.”

Along with a vigorous schedule that includes almost eight hours of performing per day, students have a chance to work with world-renowned musicians. In the past, violinists Joshua Bell and Gil Shaham have assisted. Cellist Yo-Yo Ma attended the festival while studying at Julliard.

It’s been a long road since Lee was a little girl who lugged a 50-pound bass from the bus stop to her house, holding it over her head for much of her Fairbanks public school years.

“My parents told me that one of their fondest memories was when they saw a big, black (bass) case bobbing in the woods,” she said.

As Lee has aged her bass — easily the largest stringed orchestra instrument — has only gotten bigger and heavier. Her current bass is six inches taller than the 5-foot-4 Lee and weighs 110 pounds, including the case.

Lee’s mother, Patrice, equated traveling with it to be like trying to bring a Volkswagen on an airplane.

“We tried to convince her to play the piccolo,” Patrice joked. “(Avalon said) ‘That doesn’t fit my personality.’”

Not only is it large, but the instrument is difficult to master. However, Lee has excelled at it, according to her longtime instructor, Bob Olsen. He said Lee’s physical strength coupled with uncanny ability to detect pitch has made her an outstanding bass player. In 2008, she was one of four Alaskans named to the National High School Honors Orchestra.

Generally the bass is seen as an accompanying instrument and the backbone of an orchestra. Olsen, principal bassist for the Fairbanks Symphony, Arctic Chamber Orchestra and Juneau Symphony, thinks Lee’s level goes well beyond that.

“Avalon plays well enough that she plays the bass like it’s a solo instrument,” he said. “She plays it like a violin. It’s pretty amazing.”

Lee is excited to continue her music education at the festival. She hopes to one day work in a professional symphony, eventually earning a doctorate in double bass performance. She said if things don’t work out with the double bass, she’d consider a biology or law degree.

It makes sense that she has her eye on education. She said encouraging teachers have been a large part of her success.

“If you start in the program here in Fairbanks, you can make it really far,” she said. “(Students are) lucky to have such a strong music program.”

It’s also given her a chance to see the world. While she was in high school, she joined the Fairbanks Symphony in Greece. To get to Greensboro she’ll have to take a nine-hour bus ride from Washington D.C. since smaller commuter jets won’t carry the bass. But Lee doesn’t mind lugging her instrument around.

“I had a chance to go somewhere,” she said of the opportunities playing bass has provided. “If that’s gonna bring me there, I’ll do it.”

Contact features writer Suzanna Caldwell at 459-7504.