Making and sharing music is what makes retirement fun for Charles and Rae Terpenning.

Both musicians from childhood, the pair have been involved with the Saratoga Orchestra of Whidbey Island since its inception.

“I was called to play the first concert that they ever had,” Rae Terpenning said.

A flutist, she got her start when she was 9 years old, from watching her mother, a professional harpist, rehearse with a flutist who had a gold flute.

“When it came time to choose an instrument, I decided a flute would be good,” Rae said, “because not only was it small and a lot easier to move than a harp, but I’d heard this beautiful playing when she’d been rehearsing with my mom.”

Rae’s husband joined the orchestra at the end of its second season, playing viola. Unlike his wife, that’s not the first instrument he started with.

Charles started playing trumpet in fifth grade before eventually switching to the violin. With that instrument, he became one of only two sophomores accepted into a national All-Eastern Orchestra.

“It was a real privilege to do that,” Charles said, “and really spiked my interest in opera. I really love opera, it’s one of my favorite things.”

It wasn’t until college that he’d switch to viola. It also wasn’t until college that he’d meet his future wife, but they have a connection going back before then.

The All-Eastern Orchestra, during Charles’ tenure in it, had a guest conductor named Stanley Chapple, who had also taught a few classes taken by Rae in Seattle.

“It was one of those coincidences we learned about later,” Rae said.

The two met their first weekend at the New England Conservatory of Music in Boston. Rae was a sophomore at the time, and Charles was a freshman.

“I finished my degree in 1966,” Charles said, “and we were married in August of 1966.”

Eventually, the two moved to Seattle, both continuing to play music professionally.

After retirement, they moved to Whidbey Island and eventually both played in the Saratoga Orchestra.

A common feature on the south end, Charles and Rae both want the orchestra to be entertainment for members from the north end of the island, as well.

“It’s the Saratoga Orchestra of Whidbey Island,” Charles said.

This weekend, Charles will be joining the other musicians in the orchestra for their “Curtains Up!” performance, which opens Saratoga Orchestra’s eighth season.

“I look forward to every concert,” Charles said. “There’s always something different and new to be learned and education to be given out to people and audiences.”

The concert, which will feature music from composers Gioachino Rossini and Ludwig van Beethoven, is the new Music Director and Conductor Anna Edwards’ first performance with the Saratoga Orchestra.

There will also be a Piano Concerto, composed by Felix Mendelssohn, played by Mark Salman.

The concert takes place  at 2:30 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 2, at South Whidbey High School in Langley.

This is Charles’ sixth season with Saratoga Orchestra, and the eighth season for Rae, who, before becoming the board president, played flute in the orchestra.

Until, that is, Rae had a stroke in 2010 and was unable to play flute anymore.

“When I had my stroke, then I couldn’t play the flute anymore, which, for me, is just gut wrenching,” Rae said. “Because that’s been my life.”

She’s now the board president of the orchestra, while Charles still plays viola with them.

But music is returning to Rae now.

“Charlie found a man on the internet, in Amsterdam, who makes one-handed flutes,” she said.

“He specifically works on adaptive instruments for people with special needs,” Charles added.

It’s been almost five years since her stroke, but Rae still is unable to use her right arm, so she’s in the process of getting one of her professional flutes retrofitted for one-handed playing.

When it’s finished, it’ll be held like a clarinet, with a curved head piece so she can blow into it the same as she would a regular flute.

She had the altered flute briefly before needing to send it back to get some extensions added, and she said each day she played, she got better at it.

“It’s such a thrill to be able to make music again,” she said. “It’ll take me quite a while … before I learn all the new fingerings.

“It’s so exciting.”

She expects to get it back with the extensions soon, within a couple of weeks. Then, she’ll be joining a flute choir Dec. 16 at the First Reform Church for her first public performance in five years.

“You can’t imagine how great it was to hear a flute sound,” Charles said of his wife’s return to playing.

Rae replied, “No greater than being able to produce it.”