Former Charlottesville High School Orchestra Director Laura Mulligan Thomas is remembering Caroline Buckman, a CHS alum whose career as a professional violist spanned decades and included inspiring accomplishments even after her death in the spring of 2023 from breast cancer.

Buckman, who graduated CHS in 1992, played on the Grammy-winning recording of the Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny theme, composed by John Williams. 

“She worked until the end,” Thomas said in an interview on Charlottesville Right Now. “She just kept going, kept recording.”

The Grammy Award, given out at the Feb. 4 ceremony, wasn’t the only posthumous honor for Buckman. She also played on the recording of the new Beatles song “Now and Then.”

“Caroline was asked to show up to a recording gig and it was hush hush, and it was a different title of the project,” Thomas recalled. “ What ended up being the tune “Now and Then,” was billed as something else, so that nobody really knew what was going on.”

Thomas says Caroline knew the gig was serious when Paul McCartney walked into the studio. “He signed her score,” Thomas said. “She knew what a big deal it was to be in that room with Paul McCartney. I think it was a dream of hers, and sadly, she did not live to see the final or hear the final project.”

Thomas first met Buckman in the early 1980s, when Buckman was a student at Greenbrier Elementary School

“Caroline was always a really enthusiastic and talented player. It seemed to come pretty easy to her. I don’t think she ever missed a note in one sight reading throughout her four years at Charlottesville High School,” said Thomas, who retired in 2022 and continues to play and teach cello. “She had that kind of a brain and was just a very talented young lady and very devoted to the orchestra, very excited about the projects we did and such.”

Thomas says it was thrilling to see Buckman’s career soar over the years after her graduation, and she even went to visit her once in LA. 

“She went off to school, got a couple of degrees, and then moved to LA about 2002 and started getting asked to be on all these recording projects. And she was basically the person who got the call when they needed to record a soundtrack for something or another,” Thomas said. “And she spent a lot of time in the studio, but she also kept up her classical playing.”

Thomas recalled another of Buckman’s big performances at the Grammys with Lady Gaga. 

“I remember her telling me that she had to memorize all of the music because there was no stand or music on stage,” Thomas said.

Despite the celebrity encounters and the impressive resume,  “Caroline was such a humble person,” Thomas said. “She did all this magnificent stuff, but she was always just so enthralled and excited about what she did, almost like, ‘I can’t believe I’m here,’ which made her very delightful.”

Thomas said Buckman also continued to support the CHS orchestra in life and after, donating two violas and bequeathing some money in her will.