December 27, 2023 • 38 mins
Sonja Thoms played oboe in the Chicago Youth Symphony Orchestra, and earned a bachelor’s degree at Eastman School of Music and a master’s degree in oboe performance at Rice University. She performed as an oboist with the Lucerne Academy Orchestra, National Repertory Orchestra, New World Symphony, and the Alarm Will Sound new music ensemble. Thoms moved into orchestra operations through an internship with the National Symphony Orchestra at the Kennedy Center. In 2006, she started working in operations for the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, and in 2015 Thoms moved to the Nashville Symphony to lead the operations department. Some of her projects at the Nashville Symphony include the annual Summer Community Concert Series, the Violins of Hope Project, hosting the League of American Orchestras’ 2019 National Conference, and supporting the orchestra’s return to the stage after pandemic shutdowns. In 2019, Thoms created OrchestraCareer.com, an online mentoring service that provides a bridge for young people from college to careers at orchestras. She has been instrumental in creating the first-ever student content at League Conferences.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:18):
Welcome to CEOs you should know.I am your host, Mike Howard from
the Wheeling Area Chamber of Commerce.We are pleased to sponsor CEOs you know
you should know here with iHeartRadio Wheelingand iHeart does this all across the country.
It's a great podcast network, localand national CEOs that come on and
business figures for educational purposes and greatstorytelling. We love to be a part
(00:42):
of it here. Leadership Wheeling isalso a sponsor of CEOs you should know,
which will begin before too long.We run it every spring at the
Wheeling Area Chamber of Commerce. Youcan find out more about it at Wheeling
Chamber dot com. Also, ourfriends at West Banco glad to have West
Banco with us as a sponsor ofCEOs. You should know. Our studio
(01:03):
guest today is fairly new to Wheelingand we're excited to be sitting down with
the new executive director of the WheelingSymphony Orchestra, Sonya Tholmes. Sonya,
thank you for being in with us. Oh, thanks so much, Mike.
I'm so delighted to be here andhere in Wheeling. Well, we
had the pleasure of sitting down withthat very mild Manner John Devlin long ago,
(01:25):
and of course I'm being facetious,and he and I had a great
time talking about all things Wheeling symphony, his journey to get here. So
that's kind of what we want todo today, just kind of talk to
you about your your experience so far, your leadership experience, where it's taken
you from. But as always,we kind of start with where did things
start for you? Where did yougrow up? Well? I was born
(01:48):
in Pittsburgh, so not far upthe road. I still have family there,
but mostly grew up in Chicago,Oh Okay. And then when I
was that's where I fell in lovewith orchestras. I was a young oboist
and then I went off to musicschool. I love that instrument. I'll
have to say the mission and everybodygoes the obo. It's just great.
(02:09):
It is such there's something almost angelicabout that instrument that comes when it comes
into a song, everyone just kindof goes, why is it? What
do you think that is? Ithink it's it's a very pure sound.
It's a very compelling sound, Ithink, and it's it's also of it.
(02:30):
You can always hear it when it'splaying. It doesn't blend as easily,
which is for better or for worse. But I didn't even know what
an obo was before it was handedto me by my parents. My parents,
I come from a very musical family, and when I was a young
elementary school kid, they said,here or you're gonna play the obo.
I said that started with that,I did start. I would thank you
(02:50):
you give clarinet to maybe or anythingto o, but then obo? But
wow, yeah, So I startedwith I have two brothers and there they
both were musicians growing up, andso I just I thought everybody's family was
a family full of musicians. Andyou were handed an instrument at a young
age and that's what you did andyou learned it. My parents me that
I was an old boy obo becauseI wouldn't have thought I could play it,
(03:12):
so I went to the drums.But I maybe for me, it's
kind of it seems like it alwaysappears in beautifully well written things, dramatic
things, and it's given the spotlightand it's just it's just fantastic. Love
it, love it. Well,that's great to hear. So do you
consider yourself in a windy city ininser or how did that work for you?
Are you more Chicago, more Pittsburgh? How did how did that flesh
(03:35):
out for you? You know,I think Pittsburgh has a very strong place
in my heart because after music schoolI went and worked at the Pittsburgh Symphony
for nine years. So then asan adult, I started to, you
know, learn what it meant tobe living in Pittsburgh and that really was
some formative years for me. Anduh yeah, but Pittsburgh it will always
be home for me. Was wasChicago your high school home? Okay?
(04:00):
Yeah, it was like junior highhigh school. And we actually moved out
to Los Angeles about halfway through highschool. So, oh g We're out
there in California for a couple ofyears. And then I was at Eastern
School of Music in Rochester, NewYork for undergrad and Rice University in Houston
for my graduate work in Obo performance. So I studied obo. I was
planning to be in an orchestra somedayand I want that music school path.
(04:23):
Oh yeah, los Angeles, wow. In Chicago, and so Wheeling is
kind of like po dunk city foryou. No, I'm kidding, but
it probably seems pretty small. Itis, and that's why I like it.
That's what you were just came fromnash moment. Well, after I
was at the Pittsburgh Symphony for aboutnine years, I went to Nashville,
and I was at the Nashville Symphony. Right. That's where I moved to
(04:44):
Wheeling from Nashville, And I mean, I love those cities, but I
also am really loving the Wheeling life. Well, I think for you especially,
but for a lot of people.When you're in Wheeling, Pittsburgh's right
there. You need the big cityfeel you can go with you maybe having
family or friends still left there thatgives it even more of a tie,
right m h Yeah, I think. I mean a great combination of living
(05:09):
here and Wheeling and being near Pittsburghis anything you can want is within reach,
and you don't have to go tothe big city if you don't want
to. I can just everything isfifteen minutes from anything else here in Wheeling,
which I love. Yeah. Soyou probably if someone says where's your
hometown, you probably don't really havea specific one. It sounds like with
the way you moved around, ormaybe you were in Chicago the longest.
(05:30):
If it comes down to that,if today someone said do you can move
back to one of those, butyou got to stay there the rest of
your life. What would it beoo? I love asking fun questions once
in a while. Probably probably Pittsburgh, you know, I mean, I
just growing up, my grandparents anduncles, cousins always were there, so
every holiday, every summer was spentthere. And it's I love the city.
(05:54):
You know that if you want sports, you've got sports and carts and
arts and culture. And the cityreally changed a lot in the last ten
years, and so whenever I goback there, I feel like it's a
whole new experience up at Pittsburgh.But I think that that that that is
has everything I want. But I'mpretty pretty happy here and Wheeling for now.
Yeah, that's kind of where Iworked in Pittsburgh for fifteen years living
(06:17):
here, and so I really enjoyonce a week, once every other week
going up there. But it wasfun while I was there too, I
mean. And the nice thing isso many ethnicities and ethnic areas you can
go. It's almost like different differentcities in and of themselves. Oh yeah,
absolutely. So the whole music scenethere or maybe even Chicago, La.
You were in the symphony side ofit, was there other music scenes
(06:41):
or things you've been involved with outsideof that that you enjoyed, or business
side of things, maybe worked atwhat's what's that kind of music, the
whole music profession. Yeah, i'dlike for you. Well, like I
said, I was planning to bein an orchestra, and it's very competitive
to become a professional orchestral musician andthere's not a lot of jobs. And
after music school, I realized therewere people that worked backstage at these orchestras,
(07:05):
and so I've been kind of inthe administrative side since then. But
I would say probably in Nashville eightyears in Nashville, the Nashville Symphony,
we had some pretty phenomenal collaborations.There's so many artists there, and so
I really enjoyed kind of all thedifferent genres that we got to work with
as an orchestra, and orchestra isactually a lot more versatile than I think
(07:29):
people realize. Well, and youlook at a place like Nashville, I
mean and probably considered both the countrymusic and the Christian music hub. For
those two, I'm sure there wascollaborations and things back and forth with that.
Yeah, there was a we hada really premiere fundraiser event called the
Symphony Ball, where we actually awardeda local celebrity artist an award for their
(07:51):
community service. And so in Nashville, a lot of famous people live there,
so we and then we would performwith that artist at the event.
Toby Keith, Steven Tyler, BradPaisley, you know. So it was
really kind of the Trisia Yearwood GarthBrooks. I mean, the level of
celebrity is very different than maybe sayPittsburgh. But when I moved to Nashville,
(08:18):
and I was like, what isthis place that loves country music?
How does an orchestra fit into thatlandscape? And the longer I lived there,
I realized Nashville loves live music ofany type, and so an orchestra
absolutely has a place there. Andso it was a really exciting place to
be because everybody's a musician in Nashville, So there was a lot of love
in that city for the orchestra.Yeah. I lived in Greensburg from like
(08:41):
eighty five to eighty eight, andI don't remember ever going to see the
Pittsburgh Symphony, But I lived inNashville from eighty eight to ninety I did
get to go see them once,and I was like, Wow, this
is incredible because I've always loved symphonic, especially movie I'm a movie soundtrack buff
guy. Give me dance with wolves, leave me alone for a week.
I'm good to go. I thinkI told John this and it was just
(09:05):
fabulous stuff. I enjoyed that soso much, and I'm always kind of
keeping my ear out and now hereto and we'll get to the Wheeling Symphony.
Trust me, we're going to talkabout that. It's absolutely one of
my favorite things to do. Butthe time in Nashville was incredible. And
it's always fascinating to me to havethat many people, you know, that
(09:26):
work together. And as I've learnedfrom John how how I guess you could
say little, they really practice togetherthat pulls this thing off. And now
you do it with movie screens inthe back and all these cool or you
go touring the state like you dohere, Yeah, to Canaane Valley and
Weird and everywhere else, and it'sjust craziness. But it's more than a
four piece band. Yeah, ohyeah, absolutely well. And then the
(09:48):
unique thing about the Nashville Symphony musiciansis they also play in all the studio,
a lot of them playing the studiosin Nashville, which could be anything
from video game to music to youknow, a country record or a Christian
contemporary album. You know. Sothey were so versatile and so agile on
and off the stage with their playing. It really it's a it's a really
(10:09):
unique place. Yeah, so tellme how you said it was pretty competitive
in that Were you looking after yourgraduate studies to find that orchestra position?
Was that the dream? Yeah?I started taking auditions. You have to
take auditions. And at the sametime in college, I had had experiences
where I was able to just kindof create concerts. You know, I
(10:31):
didn't know to call it concert production, but if I wanted something to happen,
I I just did it. Imade it happen. I paid my
friends and pizza. I said,we're going to do this. And so
when I started to realize how hardit was going to really be and I
enjoy I didn't want to sacrifice everythingelse that I was enjoying about the music
life, I started exploring and Ifound an internship. Actually was the turning
(10:56):
point. I actually reached out tomy parents and after graduating I didn't have
a job, said can I comelive with you? And they said,
that's fine, but you need toget some work going along, and they
are in Maryland. And so Iended up, long story short, as
the operations intern at the National Symphonyat the Kennedy Center. Not a bad
gig, No, not bad.I did not know that. Yeah,
(11:16):
so I and my eyes were openedwide to the fact that there's many people
working off stage as there are onthe stage at an orchestra. And I'd
just been in six years of musicschool and I felt like no one told
me that this was an option.And so after that internship, I ended
up getting a role at the PittsburghSymphony in operations. And you know,
(11:37):
at this point, I still waslike, but I thought I was going
to be an oboist. You know. It was kind of like identity crisis
because I didn't even know this sideof the business really existed. But I
had a point at which I hadto really make a decision. Am I
going to like lean into this thingthat I didn't even know existed, or
or I'm going to complain about it, or you know, or jump?
(12:00):
And I said, you know what, I'm going to give it a shot.
And here I am eighteen years later, in the world of orchestra management,
and you know, my oboist selfshowed up to work every day because
it informed my ability to serve themusicians of the Pittsburgh Symphony. Yeah.
That's a big, big important thing, isn't it. Yeah, but the
stakes were pretty high. Those professionalmusicians are very demanding them themselves and the
(12:24):
people around them, and so hereI am fresh out of school and not
really had had an office job before, and having to serve them in a
really really high level way. Andso I just tried not to make the
same mistake twice and be reliable.And the great thing about my experience there
(12:45):
was I was managing, working onall the concert production, but the Pittsburgh
Symphony also tours internationally and domestically,and so the other half of my job
was planning, managing and going onEuropean tours. And I didn't know that
that was a job when I wasin college. What you don't know,
what you don't know, right,Yeah. So it's been a great,
(13:05):
really great fit for me. Ilove it. I'm near music all the
time. Well that's the may beinga musician as well, and thinking I'm
gonna I'm not gonna take this jobout of college I'm going to go join
that holiday in touring band, andglad I didn't do that. And then
I said, but when this firstjob's over, then I'm going to load
my drums up and I'm going toMyrtle Beach and find a band. And
then I met my first wife.So all that stuff of ever playing like
(13:28):
that did finally go away. Butit's interesting how I've got into events where
partnering, like with you all withstuff so I can get to go and
get to see and be a partof it and see how a little of
it works, or you know,just booking entertainment for things we do at
the Stifle and bringing guys and galsthat I love into play Pierce. So
I'm still I feel like I'm apart of it, yeah, even though
(13:48):
I'm not playing necessarily, but Ilove being around it. I think that
that's the great thing about music isit can be a part of your whole
life and whatever on your terms,right, And I very quickly realize,
you know what, I don't haveto be a professional to also be a
musician, and I always will considermyself an oboist. And you're a drummer,
you always be a drummer but Ithink that's the great thing about music
(14:09):
as it really can be for eachof us. Well, and you wonder
they say, like what the topone tenth of all football players, Oh
ever hit you know that finite thing, h ever hit the NFL. I
wonder what that percentage is for musiciansbecause many people play something but only that
a little bit really do it professionally. Yeah, that's a good that's a
(14:31):
good question, a good intern project. There we go, you're listening to
CEOs used to know. I'm yourhost, Mike Howard from the Wheeling Area
Chamber of Commerce, and we're withSonia Films from the Wheeling Symphony Orchestra.
She's the new executive director here intown in Wheeling. So that early career
work tell us a little bit aboutmaybe the people or some leadership things you
(14:56):
learned that influenced you that you're like, this is one of my favorite things.
I love to ask because this happenedto me a lot. Oh that
I'd love to do later and oh, I don't ever want to treat people
like that later, And like didyou have any of those moments along the
way. Well, early on,I was asking a lot of questions and
doing a lot of listening because Iknew I didn't know much and that that
(15:16):
got me pretty far and and thenmore and and so I think I I
often have to remind myself to returnback to that, you know, like
ask more questions, use my earsmore than my my my mouth for you
know, when I'm trying to youknow, learn and orient to a new
situation. I've only been in thisrole now here at Wheeling for four months.
I've done a lot of learning anda lot of listening. So that's
(15:39):
That's definitely one of those things thatI saw the value of. And I
think also just pursuing relationship with peoplebefore you need something with it from them,
you know, and and it isso important in the workplace and in
life to do that, And thatwas not apparent to me in the beginning.
I just would try to go topeople when I needed things, and
sometimes it went better than other times. But you know, as I saw
(16:03):
the value of the relationship building,prioritizing that became really important. What about
like high school, college, oreven home with parents or any other folks
in your family. Was there anyonethat's stuck out or stood out or lessons
learned well? I think my dadhas always been my biggest fan, but
I also watched him as an administratorand he's a pretty bold person. Who
(16:26):
will you know, when I wasa very young oboist, I was pretty
good, and he wanted me tohave a new teacher. And so we
lived in Chicago, and he calledup the former principal oboist of the Chicago
Symphony and said, you need tohear my daughter. I mean, that's
pretty So I saw that happening,you know, like you got to put
(16:47):
yourself out there sometimes, and clearlythere was still, you know, there
was a validity to his request.And so I one played for this teacher
and he took me on as astudent. But that kind of always stuck
with me that unless you go askfor things, you know, you can't
wait for things to fall in yourlap, and so at times be bold,
(17:10):
and so that that really has stuckwith me for a long long time.
Yeah, in my sales training andthings that I've done and training sellers,
learning the art of fine question askingis one of the best things you
can do. And then throw onthe end of that and the more you
ask, the more nose you get, you're going to find the yes somewhere
(17:30):
at the end of the nose,and you just keep going, what's the
worst that can happen in any ofthose situations? Right, Well, that's
a great story. I love hearingthat. So you were at the said
as the National Symphony is in thatwas an internhip, an internship. What
happened next? Yeah, So thenthat that was going to come to a
close, And so I was Iwanted to pursue this operations side of things.
(17:55):
And yes, I saw part timeoperations assistant position at the Pittsburgh Symphony
and I wanted to get to Pittsburghbecause family was there, and my then
boyfriend was there, and you know, I wanted to get to Pittsburgh.
And and so I took the job, and and then about two months in
(18:15):
someone left the department. They offeredme full time. I said, oh,
this can be a full time gig, you know, salary and benefits.
I was so naive that I couldactually do this thing. And I
said, well, I'll keep I'llkeep going and I'll try this out.
And so walking through that unexpected opendoor is also a big lesson that I
carry with me is sometimes doors justfling right open in front of you and
(18:37):
you should probably walk through them.Yeah, yeah, So how long were
you in Pittsburgh. I was therefor nine years, and oh so by
I when when I was promoted afull time and then my boss was promoted
and I went into her chair.So I was promoted a couple of times
and given more and more responsibility andjust kept trying to move up to the
(19:00):
expectations. But nine years is agood long chapter. I mean, I
learned a lot from being at anorganization that long. And you know,
it's interesting because I don't know thatI don't know that a lot of my
peers I've seen them be at organizationsthat long, and that was really valuable
to me. And I learned alot and got to work with a lot
(19:22):
of different people. And then itcame to a point where I was like,
you know what, I think Iwant to learn from another organization,
and that prompted my move to Nashville. So Pittsburgh to Nashville. And how
long were you there? What wasthe position there? I was the vice
president general manager at the Nashville Symphonyand so I was there about eight years
(19:44):
nice and I oversaw the whole operationsdepartment there. I was kind of like
the Number two in Pittsburgh. Andthen so I oversaw the whole operations department,
which managed the production of all theconcerts. They also own their own
hall, so all the concerts,the orchestra, all the concerts without the
orchestra, and also the musicians ofthe orchestra. I had a couple of
(20:04):
different hats. So yeah, itwas it was really great to be there.
I mean, that is where Ilived my pandemic life as well,
was at the Nashville Symphony. Everybodyhas a pandemic life. Yeah, and
so I came here from there fourmonths ago. Yep, came here just
(20:26):
in this summer in August. Whatattracted you to this position into Wheeling,
mm hmm. I think about fiveyears ago I was at Nashville Symphony and
I was in this leadership program andit was really starting to spark my interest
in becoming an executive director. Thatwas kind of my goal. You know,
I'd been a part of a partof the bigger picture, but I
(20:48):
always was drawn to the biggest pictureand wanting to learn how all the parts
fit, and executive directors seemed tobe, you know, a role where
I could try that out. Andwhen the pandemic hit at organizations like the
Nashville Symphony, the Pittsburgh Symphony.They're twenty five million dollar orchestra is huge,
you know, we had well,unfortunately, we had furlough the entire
(21:11):
orchestra and fifty of the staff atthe Nashville Symphony, and I was one
of nineteen people left and we shutdown and canceled an entire season. And
so here I was at a verylarge organization in a very you know,
challenging time, and I saw theWheeling Symphony still making music happen because the
(21:33):
versatility and the agility. And Ihad known of the Wheeling safe. I've
known of the Wheeling Symphony since Iwas at the Pittsburgh Symphony because we share
musicians. And I had also startedto get to know John through his podcast
and through a mutual friends. Oneof my questions was there a connection prior
to Yeah, we had a mutualfriend. One of his friends in close
colleagues was a conductor at the NashvilleSymphony, and so I but here I
(21:57):
was sitting in Nashville, were kindof put all the pieces together, you
know, of the pandemic to makesure we could rebuild and be out,
be ready when the doors could open. But I was seeing these smaller orchestras
in these smaller cities still keep goingand the structure of the organizations are slightly
different, and so it really intriguedme. I was like, what is
(22:18):
it about being at a you know, a smaller that brings oute agility and
that versatility. I want to bethere because I had only been at the
Pittsburgh Symphony and the Nashville Symphony,these large, large organizations which happened that
little national symptomy, Yeah right,which you know, I mean all I
know I learned from being at theseworld class organizations that you know, we
(22:41):
we were churning out one hundred andfifty concerts a year. I mean,
it's insane. But there was somethingabout the draw was I wanted to be
at a place where creativity and agility. Maybe that was my theory from observing,
but I also wanted I was feelinglike I was losing touch with the
actual community and patrons because Nashville's gettingbigger. The organization was huge, and
(23:03):
I love music because I get towe get to share it with each other,
and it just seemed like a community. My theory was a community like
this size and an organization like this, maybe I can be even more engaged
in the community and just get someof that rewarding connection back. And it's
true. I'm, I'm, I'm. My theories have been proven true so
(23:25):
far. I don't think that's goingto change. I don't think we're going
to go up to a million peoplereally anytime soon. So we just want
to turn the tide and get itback to normal, right. Yeah.
So when this job opened up,I mean, it just felt like the
right place for me. I hadcome to know John, you know,
as much as I could having notworked with him, and I loved the
(23:47):
way he was approaching the season andhe's so dedicated to this community. And
you know, the organization was exactlythe size I wanted to try, and
it was putting me near family againbecause it's harder. And yeah, I
mean it's hard. I think that, you know, it's hard not to
be near family. I think theolder I've gotten, well, it is,
(24:07):
I really is. And you know, and to develop a family at
work is always kind of a coolthing too, and it's hard to do,
I think in those big cities likeyou're talking about, for sure.
So you are the executive director.I'm sure people can probably think of some
of the things you do. Whatare some things you've had to do so
for you can see coming that thatother people would think, Oh, I
(24:30):
didn't know the executive director. Yeah. Well, we have a staff of
five full time and some part time, and so I will see all the
staff. We also have the musiciansof the orchestra and they are part of
the union, the American Federation ofMusicians, Okay, and so I also
will be you know, overseeing kindof the contracts with them and so overseeing
(24:56):
the staff. But also John andI are starting to plan next season and
working on budgets and you know,so it's marketing and fundraising and artistic planning
and supporting the musicians of the Orchestrais and that's the stuff that I really
you know, lean into and reallyenjoy. And then there's all the people
(25:17):
that are so dedicated to this organization, the volunteers, the boar, the
auxiliary, the community that I havegotten to meet. And so part of
my role is to meet as manypeople as I can. And so I'm
grateful that this town and the sizeof this town, everybody seems to know
everybody which is actually expertites my abilityto get to know them. But yeah,
(25:42):
my role is really to get toknow as much of the community as
possible, so we can also pushpush the organization in the direction that is
going to serve the community and andgrow it and keep it sustainable. And
so it's a lot of strategy andit's all a lot of you know,
(26:02):
a lot of tasks. No taskis too small. But I really have
my my my sits in almost everypart of the organization, which is why
I wanted to sit in the seat. Well, I'm assuming you're going to
agree with the statement that I'm goingto say. I'm just curious when you
found out about it. And thatis the quality of the music of this
(26:23):
symphony. I think it could probablypick up and go to some pretty big
cities and replace another and no onewould know the difference. Oh yeah,
it is it to me, it'sthat good. Oh yeah, And so
I when did you kind of say, wow, this little symphony is really
good. Well, I actually hadthe opportunity to come as about a year
(26:44):
and a half ago when Yo Yomawas here. Oh my gosh, and
you know, I mean it isnotable for him to go anywhere and him
and Crystal's Bacon and just that wholeprogram and a packed house was so exciting,
and so that's that definitely sticks inmy mind. I also would say,
you know, even coming to nowthis season, since I've been here,
(27:07):
when we had the Violence of PopeProject and the Restored Violence from the
Holocaust and we had them here,it was such an incredibly moving concert,
and that whole week, I justfelt like the musicians were so in tune
with, you know, the taskat hand, really and I admire their
ability to kind of power through andplay these instruments that have this unbelievable history.
(27:32):
So I've seen their versatility and I'veseen their their commitment to this organization
and getting to hear them. Iwish I could hear them more often,
you know, because I'm used towe have about one concert a month,
and so that's still something I'm trying. I'm getting need to get used to.
Is because I'm used to my officebeing at concert Hall and having rehearsal
and concerts every single week. SoI miss them when they're not here.
(27:55):
True, and that is a truestatement because I know that compared to some
we don't have as many conswers asthey do, but the preparation form is
still intense and a lot to bedone. And I remember hearing John talk
about things, but you know,we're already looking next year and the effort
and the planning you do have todo for that while you're still trying to
execute what's going on right now.Yeah, I have to. I guess
(28:18):
you're the one that has to makesure all that happens. Yeah, yep,
yep. My brain has to operateat lots of different levels. But
I love that kind of opportunity tobe strategic and then also tactical, you
know, and you have to kindof it can also be exhausting. But
I think also the thing that strikesme about the musicians of this orchestras they're
coming to education too. I meanthis region has really struck me here and
(28:40):
Wheeling, the incredible dedication and strongmusic education culture here. You know,
just it is notable. It isnationally notable, I would say, because
I mean the cities that I've beenin do not have I'm hoping to go
to the Wheeling festivals sound do not. I mean, it is incredible.
(29:00):
It's it really is, and thatthat is that's a credit to this this
this region and there, and thededication and the saying the value of music
matters and it's important to our lives, and so our musicians are teachers too,
and that helps the art form continueon, which is personally very important
(29:21):
to me. I couldn't believe thefirst time I went to one of the
strings concerts here, I'm like,I don't even remember anyone in my high
school. I mean, I wasin the marching band and the symphonic band,
if you call that. We hadno violin. I don't even remember
anyone playing violin when I was akid. Now we have probably thousands in
this county the play violin or shallowor whatever, the strings commitment and just
(29:45):
music in general, but that onehas. What's blown me away are these
kids and the sound they can produceand how much fun they seem to have
and what they're learning. And thenyou combine it with all the choir and
the jazz band and the thing asthey do at these festivals. It is
amazing to see. Yeah, Andthat's a gratitude goes out to their parents
(30:07):
and their teachers and all that makeit possible, because they'll be the next
ones, the next musicians of theWheeling Symphony when they hear around here,
some of the symphonies around Washington County, wherever it is. I think we're
going to have some people for you. That's great. They're going to keep
coming out of the woodwork. Sohas there been a tough lesson over life
(30:30):
that has shaped you? I loveto ask this because I've heard some really
great answers from people. Sometimes it'sa combination of things, but sometimes it
is that, you know, Ihad to go through this, or I
had to go through that. Isthere anything that was like, I'm not
sure I'd ever do that. Ihave to be If I didn't have to
do it, I wouldn't sign upfor it. Has there been anything in
your life like that? Yeah,I would say. So. You know,
(30:52):
I'm a pretty driven person, andyou know, always uh you know,
I think that I like to movefast, asked, and accomplish a
lot. And but you know,I think personal tragedy and personal hardships can
really break up your whole world.And and so I, uh, yeah,
(31:14):
I went I went through a divorceabout five years ago, and that
changed my whole world. And andand then the pandemic you know, I
think that shook my world, allof our worlds. But you know,
I think what it showed me isdon't take anything for granted, you know,
And it's a massive The accommodation ofjust the last five years has been
massively humbling, and you know,prioritizing connection with people and prioritizing you know,
(31:40):
just cherishing the things that you youhave in front of you, and
and uh, that has been That'sthat's definitely been a big lesson. I
would say the pandemic even affirmed thateven more because I had never not heard
live music in my life. Ihad heard live music actually my entire life
until that point, and here Iwas sitting at a concert hall that was
(32:01):
empty and silent for a year.And so that has absolutely affirmed me that
I want orchestras around for a longlong time. My life orients around and
I process the world through music.And so I think the combination of those
lessons is just being honest with people, really see them first, and you
(32:23):
know, don't take anything for grantedthat you have and steward it well.
Beautiful advice and we appreciate your transparencyvery much. And wrapping up one thing,
I want to give you the opportunityto do because I know you've probably
run into this and know that youknow that thought of all the symphony,
I can't afford to go there.That's I'm more blue co all that stuff
(32:46):
that people have thought over the years, and you know, in some cases
some cities somewhere maybe rightly so.But how do we how do we let
people know that the symphony is forevery mm hmm. Well, we first
and foremost try to do that throughwhat we're going to present. And I
think a great example is in January, we'd setting the first Harry Potter movie,
(33:09):
and yes, a movie. There'sa lot of movies that are produced
for the concert hall now where theystrip out the soundtrack and the orchestra plays
it live. So you will watchSorcerer's Stone live in concert with the orchestra,
and I think that it's such agreat entry point because you might know
the movie and you're like okay,and then you might not have realized wow,
(33:30):
how great that music is by JohnWilliams, the same composer who wrote
Star Wars and Indiana Jones and youknow all these amazing scores. And I
know you're a film fan now,that. I know that John Barry is
my man, but I love alot of others, and so I think
it's on us to create enticing,relevant, open, accessible programming. And
(33:54):
that's why I love working with Johnand you know this organizations willing to do
that and willing to go the extramile to say, we want to tell
you stories about how this music relatesto West Virginia or Wheeling or you you
know. I mean, I thinkthat that's on us to make sure that
we're presenting things that are relevant tothe community, that are and not expect
(34:19):
And that's kind of the old,the older world of classical music. Yes,
it was elitist. It was like, oh, because many people were
trained as young musicians much more sothan they are now. Oh, yes,
you should love of course you're goingto love Beetho, and of course
you're gonna love these things. Youknow, there's a lot of dismantling of
that that still has to happen.But I really think it's on us as
the organization to do the hard workof understanding the community and presenting things that
(34:45):
showcase what an orchestra can do,but also honor like I like we were
talking about before the musician in eachof us and what we what we want
to hear well, and I wouldencourage people and you know, if you're
married, you and your spouse,if you go to Starbucks, you could
almost come to the Symphony for thesame But there are tickets that are that
(35:06):
affordable or if you've never been andyou want to just check them out.
We didn't want to miss what wasthe last August Yeah, the James.
Oh my gosh, that was acrowd. I'm just sitting here thinking there
could have been a screen here becausethis sounds like I'm listening to the movie.
Yeah, so good and so fun. Yeah. We have free concerts
in the summertime when it can beoutside of some of my favorite things.
(35:28):
That's one you see about aout youknow, thousands of people on the lawn
with their the blankets and their families. And so we have free concerts July
fourth, you know, we Ihear we do a pretty awesome free concert
here and weel yeah, and sothose are great and then you know,
we really it is important to usto make ticket prices accessible at the Capital
Theater and everywhere else that we play, because we want families to come enjoy
(35:50):
that together, you know, andcan we just plug the cap the acoustics
at the Capitol. I think mostof the best concerts I've ever seen are
here. Oh yeah, it's agorgeous theater. We're just the sound.
I'm a big sound guy, sokind of like the louder the better.
There is a limit, but Ilove to just be blown back in my
seat. Well, and the coolthing too is if you've come to one
of our concerts, you may haveseen like the white shell. It's kind
(36:13):
of the walls and the ceiling thatwe can put up when we're not amplified,
and that's an acoustic shell that pushesthat sound out into that beautiful theater.
And we also can take down theshell when we have amplification. And
so it's yeah, it's a reallygreat space and we want to fill it
up. Well, let's do thatmany great concerts coming. Give them the
website so they can always check outwhat's going on. Yeah, Wheelingsymphony dot
(36:37):
com. And you can follow uson Facebook and Instagram, and we've got
lots of stuff coming up after thenew year. I know every time because
I'm on your Facebook page, andevery time the Symphony at Ice had come
up. I'd get go to mywife because she'd never been to said we're
going, We're going, We're going, And then we knew we had a
couple of weeks later we'd have festalof sounds, so we know we always
have a great holiday time that.I've loved Symphony on Ice way back when
(37:00):
when it first started. I thinkI was working in Pittsburgh when it stopped
for a while, and then itwas brought back, and I'm so glad
it's here. It's just one ofthe coolest things wheeling offers. I think
when I finally got to see myfirst one and I'd been hearing about it
for a long time, and itwas magical. Yeah, it's just so
neat to see the whole community cometogether and different things going on, and
how many people have to That cannotbe an easy thing to pull off.
(37:23):
There's a lot of moving parts,a lot figuratively and literally, but there
are so many people so dedicated tothat coming to fruition and I could just
see the smiles and the pride inthe parents and the kids they get to
participate with us too. Yeah,I guess we uh probably ought to stop
before they roll up the weight thesidewalks are already rolled up. It's wailing.
(37:45):
One of these days we'll have thatdone too, and more people can
come see the symphony. And we'reall getting ready for that, and we're
all going to work together and we'regoing to rush it. Yeah, Sonny,
thank you so much for being myguest here on CEOs. You should
know. Oh my pleasure. Thanksso much for having me on and come
to a concert. I hope tosee you there, Yes, please do.
I'm your host, Mike Howard.This has been CEOs, you should
(38:07):
know, so we will see younext time.
Welcome to CEOs you should know.I am your host, Mike Howard from
the Wheeling Area Chamber of Commerce.We are pleased to sponsor CEOs you know
you should know here with iHeartRadio Wheelingand iHeart does this all across the country.
It's a great podcast network, localand national CEOs that come on and
business figures for educational purposes and greatstorytelling. We love to be a part
(00:42):
of it here. Leadership Wheeling isalso a sponsor of CEOs you should know,
which will begin before too long.We run it every spring at the
Wheeling Area Chamber of Commerce. Youcan find out more about it at Wheeling
Chamber dot com. Also, ourfriends at West Banco glad to have West
Banco with us as a sponsor ofCEOs. You should know. Our studio
(01:03):
guest today is fairly new to Wheelingand we're excited to be sitting down with
the new executive director of the WheelingSymphony Orchestra, Sonya Tholmes. Sonya,
thank you for being in with us. Oh, thanks so much, Mike.
I'm so delighted to be here andhere in Wheeling. Well, we
had the pleasure of sitting down withthat very mild Manner John Devlin long ago,
(01:25):
and of course I'm being facetious,and he and I had a great
time talking about all things Wheeling symphony, his journey to get here. So
that's kind of what we want todo today, just kind of talk to
you about your your experience so far, your leadership experience, where it's taken
you from. But as always,we kind of start with where did things
start for you? Where did yougrow up? Well? I was born
(01:48):
in Pittsburgh, so not far upthe road. I still have family there,
but mostly grew up in Chicago,Oh Okay. And then when I
was that's where I fell in lovewith orchestras. I was a young oboist
and then I went off to musicschool. I love that instrument. I'll
have to say the mission and everybodygoes the obo. It's just great.
(02:09):
It is such there's something almost angelicabout that instrument that comes when it comes
into a song, everyone just kindof goes, why is it? What
do you think that is? Ithink it's it's a very pure sound.
It's a very compelling sound, Ithink, and it's it's also of it.
(02:30):
You can always hear it when it'splaying. It doesn't blend as easily,
which is for better or for worse. But I didn't even know what
an obo was before it was handedto me by my parents. My parents,
I come from a very musical family, and when I was a young
elementary school kid, they said,here or you're gonna play the obo.
I said that started with that,I did start. I would thank you
(02:50):
you give clarinet to maybe or anythingto o, but then obo? But
wow, yeah, So I startedwith I have two brothers and there they
both were musicians growing up, andso I just I thought everybody's family was
a family full of musicians. Andyou were handed an instrument at a young
age and that's what you did andyou learned it. My parents me that
I was an old boy obo becauseI wouldn't have thought I could play it,
(03:12):
so I went to the drums.But I maybe for me, it's
kind of it seems like it alwaysappears in beautifully well written things, dramatic
things, and it's given the spotlightand it's just it's just fantastic. Love
it, love it. Well,that's great to hear. So do you
consider yourself in a windy city ininser or how did that work for you?
Are you more Chicago, more Pittsburgh? How did how did that flesh
(03:35):
out for you? You know,I think Pittsburgh has a very strong place
in my heart because after music schoolI went and worked at the Pittsburgh Symphony
for nine years. So then asan adult, I started to, you
know, learn what it meant tobe living in Pittsburgh and that really was
some formative years for me. Anduh yeah, but Pittsburgh it will always
be home for me. Was wasChicago your high school home? Okay?
(04:00):
Yeah, it was like junior highhigh school. And we actually moved out
to Los Angeles about halfway through highschool. So, oh g We're out
there in California for a couple ofyears. And then I was at Eastern
School of Music in Rochester, NewYork for undergrad and Rice University in Houston
for my graduate work in Obo performance. So I studied obo. I was
planning to be in an orchestra somedayand I want that music school path.
(04:23):
Oh yeah, los Angeles, wow. In Chicago, and so Wheeling is
kind of like po dunk city foryou. No, I'm kidding, but
it probably seems pretty small. Itis, and that's why I like it.
That's what you were just came fromnash moment. Well, after I
was at the Pittsburgh Symphony for aboutnine years, I went to Nashville,
and I was at the Nashville Symphony. Right. That's where I moved to
(04:44):
Wheeling from Nashville, And I mean, I love those cities, but I
also am really loving the Wheeling life. Well, I think for you especially,
but for a lot of people.When you're in Wheeling, Pittsburgh's right
there. You need the big cityfeel you can go with you maybe having
family or friends still left there thatgives it even more of a tie,
right m h Yeah, I think. I mean a great combination of living
(05:09):
here and Wheeling and being near Pittsburghis anything you can want is within reach,
and you don't have to go tothe big city if you don't want
to. I can just everything isfifteen minutes from anything else here in Wheeling,
which I love. Yeah. Soyou probably if someone says where's your
hometown, you probably don't really havea specific one. It sounds like with
the way you moved around, ormaybe you were in Chicago the longest.
(05:30):
If it comes down to that,if today someone said do you can move
back to one of those, butyou got to stay there the rest of
your life. What would it beoo? I love asking fun questions once
in a while. Probably probably Pittsburgh, you know, I mean, I
just growing up, my grandparents anduncles, cousins always were there, so
every holiday, every summer was spentthere. And it's I love the city.
(05:54):
You know that if you want sports, you've got sports and carts and
arts and culture. And the cityreally changed a lot in the last ten
years, and so whenever I goback there, I feel like it's a
whole new experience up at Pittsburgh.But I think that that that that is
has everything I want. But I'mpretty pretty happy here and Wheeling for now.
Yeah, that's kind of where Iworked in Pittsburgh for fifteen years living
(06:17):
here, and so I really enjoyonce a week, once every other week
going up there. But it wasfun while I was there too, I
mean. And the nice thing isso many ethnicities and ethnic areas you can
go. It's almost like different differentcities in and of themselves. Oh yeah,
absolutely. So the whole music scenethere or maybe even Chicago, La.
You were in the symphony side ofit, was there other music scenes
(06:41):
or things you've been involved with outsideof that that you enjoyed, or business
side of things, maybe worked atwhat's what's that kind of music, the
whole music profession. Yeah, i'dlike for you. Well, like I
said, I was planning to bein an orchestra, and it's very competitive
to become a professional orchestral musician andthere's not a lot of jobs. And
after music school, I realized therewere people that worked backstage at these orchestras,
(07:05):
and so I've been kind of inthe administrative side since then. But
I would say probably in Nashville eightyears in Nashville, the Nashville Symphony,
we had some pretty phenomenal collaborations.There's so many artists there, and so
I really enjoyed kind of all thedifferent genres that we got to work with
as an orchestra, and orchestra isactually a lot more versatile than I think
(07:29):
people realize. Well, and youlook at a place like Nashville, I
mean and probably considered both the countrymusic and the Christian music hub. For
those two, I'm sure there wascollaborations and things back and forth with that.
Yeah, there was a we hada really premiere fundraiser event called the
Symphony Ball, where we actually awardeda local celebrity artist an award for their
(07:51):
community service. And so in Nashville, a lot of famous people live there,
so we and then we would performwith that artist at the event.
Toby Keith, Steven Tyler, BradPaisley, you know. So it was
really kind of the Trisia Yearwood GarthBrooks. I mean, the level of
celebrity is very different than maybe sayPittsburgh. But when I moved to Nashville,
(08:18):
and I was like, what isthis place that loves country music?
How does an orchestra fit into thatlandscape? And the longer I lived there,
I realized Nashville loves live music ofany type, and so an orchestra
absolutely has a place there. Andso it was a really exciting place to
be because everybody's a musician in Nashville, So there was a lot of love
in that city for the orchestra.Yeah. I lived in Greensburg from like
(08:41):
eighty five to eighty eight, andI don't remember ever going to see the
Pittsburgh Symphony, But I lived inNashville from eighty eight to ninety I did
get to go see them once,and I was like, Wow, this
is incredible because I've always loved symphonic, especially movie I'm a movie soundtrack buff
guy. Give me dance with wolves, leave me alone for a week.
I'm good to go. I thinkI told John this and it was just
(09:05):
fabulous stuff. I enjoyed that soso much, and I'm always kind of
keeping my ear out and now hereto and we'll get to the Wheeling Symphony.
Trust me, we're going to talkabout that. It's absolutely one of
my favorite things to do. Butthe time in Nashville was incredible. And
it's always fascinating to me to havethat many people, you know, that
(09:26):
work together. And as I've learnedfrom John how how I guess you could
say little, they really practice togetherthat pulls this thing off. And now
you do it with movie screens inthe back and all these cool or you
go touring the state like you dohere, Yeah, to Canaane Valley and
Weird and everywhere else, and it'sjust craziness. But it's more than a
four piece band. Yeah, ohyeah, absolutely well. And then the
(09:48):
unique thing about the Nashville Symphony musiciansis they also play in all the studio,
a lot of them playing the studiosin Nashville, which could be anything
from video game to music to youknow, a country record or a Christian
contemporary album. You know. Sothey were so versatile and so agile on
and off the stage with their playing. It really it's a it's a really
(10:09):
unique place. Yeah, so tellme how you said it was pretty competitive
in that Were you looking after yourgraduate studies to find that orchestra position?
Was that the dream? Yeah?I started taking auditions. You have to
take auditions. And at the sametime in college, I had had experiences
where I was able to just kindof create concerts. You know, I
(10:31):
didn't know to call it concert production, but if I wanted something to happen,
I I just did it. Imade it happen. I paid my
friends and pizza. I said,we're going to do this. And so
when I started to realize how hardit was going to really be and I
enjoy I didn't want to sacrifice everythingelse that I was enjoying about the music
life, I started exploring and Ifound an internship. Actually was the turning
(10:56):
point. I actually reached out tomy parents and after graduating I didn't have
a job, said can I comelive with you? And they said,
that's fine, but you need toget some work going along, and they
are in Maryland. And so Iended up, long story short, as
the operations intern at the National Symphonyat the Kennedy Center. Not a bad
gig, No, not bad.I did not know that. Yeah,
(11:16):
so I and my eyes were openedwide to the fact that there's many people
working off stage as there are onthe stage at an orchestra. And I'd
just been in six years of musicschool and I felt like no one told
me that this was an option.And so after that internship, I ended
up getting a role at the PittsburghSymphony in operations. And you know,
(11:37):
at this point, I still waslike, but I thought I was going
to be an oboist. You know. It was kind of like identity crisis
because I didn't even know this sideof the business really existed. But I
had a point at which I hadto really make a decision. Am I
going to like lean into this thingthat I didn't even know existed, or
or I'm going to complain about it, or you know, or jump?
(12:00):
And I said, you know what, I'm going to give it a shot.
And here I am eighteen years later, in the world of orchestra management,
and you know, my oboist selfshowed up to work every day because
it informed my ability to serve themusicians of the Pittsburgh Symphony. Yeah.
That's a big, big important thing, isn't it. Yeah, but the
stakes were pretty high. Those professionalmusicians are very demanding them themselves and the
(12:24):
people around them, and so hereI am fresh out of school and not
really had had an office job before, and having to serve them in a
really really high level way. Andso I just tried not to make the
same mistake twice and be reliable.And the great thing about my experience there
(12:45):
was I was managing, working onall the concert production, but the Pittsburgh
Symphony also tours internationally and domestically,and so the other half of my job
was planning, managing and going onEuropean tours. And I didn't know that
that was a job when I wasin college. What you don't know,
what you don't know, right,Yeah. So it's been a great,
(13:05):
really great fit for me. Ilove it. I'm near music all the
time. Well that's the may beinga musician as well, and thinking I'm
gonna I'm not gonna take this jobout of college I'm going to go join
that holiday in touring band, andglad I didn't do that. And then
I said, but when this firstjob's over, then I'm going to load
my drums up and I'm going toMyrtle Beach and find a band. And
then I met my first wife.So all that stuff of ever playing like
(13:28):
that did finally go away. Butit's interesting how I've got into events where
partnering, like with you all withstuff so I can get to go and
get to see and be a partof it and see how a little of
it works, or you know,just booking entertainment for things we do at
the Stifle and bringing guys and galsthat I love into play Pierce. So
I'm still I feel like I'm apart of it, yeah, even though
(13:48):
I'm not playing necessarily, but Ilove being around it. I think that
that's the great thing about music isit can be a part of your whole
life and whatever on your terms,right, And I very quickly realize,
you know what, I don't haveto be a professional to also be a
musician, and I always will considermyself an oboist. And you're a drummer,
you always be a drummer but Ithink that's the great thing about music
(14:09):
as it really can be for eachof us. Well, and you wonder
they say, like what the topone tenth of all football players, Oh
ever hit you know that finite thing, h ever hit the NFL. I
wonder what that percentage is for musiciansbecause many people play something but only that
a little bit really do it professionally. Yeah, that's a good that's a
(14:31):
good question, a good intern project. There we go, you're listening to
CEOs used to know. I'm yourhost, Mike Howard from the Wheeling Area
Chamber of Commerce, and we're withSonia Films from the Wheeling Symphony Orchestra.
She's the new executive director here intown in Wheeling. So that early career
work tell us a little bit aboutmaybe the people or some leadership things you
(14:56):
learned that influenced you that you're like, this is one of my favorite things.
I love to ask because this happenedto me a lot. Oh that
I'd love to do later and oh, I don't ever want to treat people
like that later, And like didyou have any of those moments along the
way. Well, early on,I was asking a lot of questions and
doing a lot of listening because Iknew I didn't know much and that that
(15:16):
got me pretty far and and thenmore and and so I think I I
often have to remind myself to returnback to that, you know, like
ask more questions, use my earsmore than my my my mouth for you
know, when I'm trying to youknow, learn and orient to a new
situation. I've only been in thisrole now here at Wheeling for four months.
I've done a lot of learning anda lot of listening. So that's
(15:39):
That's definitely one of those things thatI saw the value of. And I
think also just pursuing relationship with peoplebefore you need something with it from them,
you know, and and it isso important in the workplace and in
life to do that, And thatwas not apparent to me in the beginning.
I just would try to go topeople when I needed things, and
sometimes it went better than other times. But you know, as I saw
(16:03):
the value of the relationship building,prioritizing that became really important. What about
like high school, college, oreven home with parents or any other folks
in your family. Was there anyonethat's stuck out or stood out or lessons
learned well? I think my dadhas always been my biggest fan, but
I also watched him as an administratorand he's a pretty bold person. Who
(16:26):
will you know, when I wasa very young oboist, I was pretty
good, and he wanted me tohave a new teacher. And so we
lived in Chicago, and he calledup the former principal oboist of the Chicago
Symphony and said, you need tohear my daughter. I mean, that's
pretty So I saw that happening,you know, like you got to put
(16:47):
yourself out there sometimes, and clearlythere was still, you know, there
was a validity to his request.And so I one played for this teacher
and he took me on as astudent. But that kind of always stuck
with me that unless you go askfor things, you know, you can't
wait for things to fall in yourlap, and so at times be bold,
(17:10):
and so that that really has stuckwith me for a long long time.
Yeah, in my sales training andthings that I've done and training sellers,
learning the art of fine question askingis one of the best things you
can do. And then throw onthe end of that and the more you
ask, the more nose you get, you're going to find the yes somewhere
(17:30):
at the end of the nose,and you just keep going, what's the
worst that can happen in any ofthose situations? Right, Well, that's
a great story. I love hearingthat. So you were at the said
as the National Symphony is in thatwas an internhip, an internship. What
happened next? Yeah, So thenthat that was going to come to a
close, And so I was Iwanted to pursue this operations side of things.
(17:55):
And yes, I saw part timeoperations assistant position at the Pittsburgh Symphony
and I wanted to get to Pittsburghbecause family was there, and my then
boyfriend was there, and you know, I wanted to get to Pittsburgh.
And and so I took the job, and and then about two months in
(18:15):
someone left the department. They offeredme full time. I said, oh,
this can be a full time gig, you know, salary and benefits.
I was so naive that I couldactually do this thing. And I
said, well, I'll keep I'llkeep going and I'll try this out.
And so walking through that unexpected opendoor is also a big lesson that I
carry with me is sometimes doors justfling right open in front of you and
(18:37):
you should probably walk through them.Yeah, yeah, So how long were
you in Pittsburgh. I was therefor nine years, and oh so by
I when when I was promoted afull time and then my boss was promoted
and I went into her chair.So I was promoted a couple of times
and given more and more responsibility andjust kept trying to move up to the
(19:00):
expectations. But nine years is agood long chapter. I mean, I
learned a lot from being at anorganization that long. And you know,
it's interesting because I don't know thatI don't know that a lot of my
peers I've seen them be at organizationsthat long, and that was really valuable
to me. And I learned alot and got to work with a lot
(19:22):
of different people. And then itcame to a point where I was like,
you know what, I think Iwant to learn from another organization,
and that prompted my move to Nashville. So Pittsburgh to Nashville. And how
long were you there? What wasthe position there? I was the vice
president general manager at the Nashville Symphonyand so I was there about eight years
(19:44):
nice and I oversaw the whole operationsdepartment there. I was kind of like
the Number two in Pittsburgh. Andthen so I oversaw the whole operations department,
which managed the production of all theconcerts. They also own their own
hall, so all the concerts,the orchestra, all the concerts without the
orchestra, and also the musicians ofthe orchestra. I had a couple of
(20:04):
different hats. So yeah, itwas it was really great to be there.
I mean, that is where Ilived my pandemic life as well,
was at the Nashville Symphony. Everybodyhas a pandemic life. Yeah, and
so I came here from there fourmonths ago. Yep, came here just
(20:26):
in this summer in August. Whatattracted you to this position into Wheeling,
mm hmm. I think about fiveyears ago I was at Nashville Symphony and
I was in this leadership program andit was really starting to spark my interest
in becoming an executive director. Thatwas kind of my goal. You know,
I'd been a part of a partof the bigger picture, but I
(20:48):
always was drawn to the biggest pictureand wanting to learn how all the parts
fit, and executive directors seemed tobe, you know, a role where
I could try that out. Andwhen the pandemic hit at organizations like the
Nashville Symphony, the Pittsburgh Symphony.They're twenty five million dollar orchestra is huge,
you know, we had well,unfortunately, we had furlough the entire
(21:11):
orchestra and fifty of the staff atthe Nashville Symphony, and I was one
of nineteen people left and we shutdown and canceled an entire season. And
so here I was at a verylarge organization in a very you know,
challenging time, and I saw theWheeling Symphony still making music happen because the
(21:33):
versatility and the agility. And Ihad known of the Wheeling safe. I've
known of the Wheeling Symphony since Iwas at the Pittsburgh Symphony because we share
musicians. And I had also startedto get to know John through his podcast
and through a mutual friends. Oneof my questions was there a connection prior
to Yeah, we had a mutualfriend. One of his friends in close
colleagues was a conductor at the NashvilleSymphony, and so I but here I
(21:57):
was sitting in Nashville, were kindof put all the pieces together, you
know, of the pandemic to makesure we could rebuild and be out,
be ready when the doors could open. But I was seeing these smaller orchestras
in these smaller cities still keep goingand the structure of the organizations are slightly
different, and so it really intriguedme. I was like, what is
(22:18):
it about being at a you know, a smaller that brings oute agility and
that versatility. I want to bethere because I had only been at the
Pittsburgh Symphony and the Nashville Symphony,these large, large organizations which happened that
little national symptomy, Yeah right,which you know, I mean all I
know I learned from being at theseworld class organizations that you know, we
(22:41):
we were churning out one hundred andfifty concerts a year. I mean,
it's insane. But there was somethingabout the draw was I wanted to be
at a place where creativity and agility. Maybe that was my theory from observing,
but I also wanted I was feelinglike I was losing touch with the
actual community and patrons because Nashville's gettingbigger. The organization was huge, and
(23:03):
I love music because I get towe get to share it with each other,
and it just seemed like a community. My theory was a community like
this size and an organization like this, maybe I can be even more engaged
in the community and just get someof that rewarding connection back. And it's
true. I'm, I'm, I'm. My theories have been proven true so
(23:25):
far. I don't think that's goingto change. I don't think we're going
to go up to a million peoplereally anytime soon. So we just want
to turn the tide and get itback to normal, right. Yeah.
So when this job opened up,I mean, it just felt like the
right place for me. I hadcome to know John, you know,
as much as I could having notworked with him, and I loved the
(23:47):
way he was approaching the season andhe's so dedicated to this community. And
you know, the organization was exactlythe size I wanted to try, and
it was putting me near family againbecause it's harder. And yeah, I
mean it's hard. I think that, you know, it's hard not to
be near family. I think theolder I've gotten, well, it is,
(24:07):
I really is. And you know, and to develop a family at
work is always kind of a coolthing too, and it's hard to do,
I think in those big cities likeyou're talking about, for sure.
So you are the executive director.I'm sure people can probably think of some
of the things you do. Whatare some things you've had to do so
for you can see coming that thatother people would think, Oh, I
(24:30):
didn't know the executive director. Yeah. Well, we have a staff of
five full time and some part time, and so I will see all the
staff. We also have the musiciansof the orchestra and they are part of
the union, the American Federation ofMusicians, Okay, and so I also
will be you know, overseeing kindof the contracts with them and so overseeing
(24:56):
the staff. But also John andI are starting to plan next season and
working on budgets and you know,so it's marketing and fundraising and artistic planning
and supporting the musicians of the Orchestrais and that's the stuff that I really
you know, lean into and reallyenjoy. And then there's all the people
(25:17):
that are so dedicated to this organization, the volunteers, the boar, the
auxiliary, the community that I havegotten to meet. And so part of
my role is to meet as manypeople as I can. And so I'm
grateful that this town and the sizeof this town, everybody seems to know
everybody which is actually expertites my abilityto get to know them. But yeah,
(25:42):
my role is really to get toknow as much of the community as
possible, so we can also pushpush the organization in the direction that is
going to serve the community and andgrow it and keep it sustainable. And
so it's a lot of strategy andit's all a lot of you know,
(26:02):
a lot of tasks. No taskis too small. But I really have
my my my sits in almost everypart of the organization, which is why
I wanted to sit in the seat. Well, I'm assuming you're going to
agree with the statement that I'm goingto say. I'm just curious when you
found out about it. And thatis the quality of the music of this
(26:23):
symphony. I think it could probablypick up and go to some pretty big
cities and replace another and no onewould know the difference. Oh yeah,
it is it to me, it'sthat good. Oh yeah, And so
I when did you kind of say, wow, this little symphony is really
good. Well, I actually hadthe opportunity to come as about a year
(26:44):
and a half ago when Yo Yomawas here. Oh my gosh, and
you know, I mean it isnotable for him to go anywhere and him
and Crystal's Bacon and just that wholeprogram and a packed house was so exciting,
and so that's that definitely sticks inmy mind. I also would say,
you know, even coming to nowthis season, since I've been here,
(27:07):
when we had the Violence of PopeProject and the Restored Violence from the
Holocaust and we had them here,it was such an incredibly moving concert,
and that whole week, I justfelt like the musicians were so in tune
with, you know, the taskat hand, really and I admire their
ability to kind of power through andplay these instruments that have this unbelievable history.
(27:32):
So I've seen their versatility and I'veseen their their commitment to this organization
and getting to hear them. Iwish I could hear them more often,
you know, because I'm used towe have about one concert a month,
and so that's still something I'm trying. I'm getting need to get used to.
Is because I'm used to my officebeing at concert Hall and having rehearsal
and concerts every single week. SoI miss them when they're not here.
(27:55):
True, and that is a truestatement because I know that compared to some
we don't have as many conswers asthey do, but the preparation form is
still intense and a lot to bedone. And I remember hearing John talk
about things, but you know,we're already looking next year and the effort
and the planning you do have todo for that while you're still trying to
execute what's going on right now.Yeah, I have to. I guess
(28:18):
you're the one that has to makesure all that happens. Yeah, yep,
yep. My brain has to operateat lots of different levels. But
I love that kind of opportunity tobe strategic and then also tactical, you
know, and you have to kindof it can also be exhausting. But
I think also the thing that strikesme about the musicians of this orchestras they're
coming to education too. I meanthis region has really struck me here and
(28:40):
Wheeling, the incredible dedication and strongmusic education culture here. You know,
just it is notable. It isnationally notable, I would say, because
I mean the cities that I've beenin do not have I'm hoping to go
to the Wheeling festivals sound do not. I mean, it is incredible.
(29:00):
It's it really is, and thatthat is that's a credit to this this
this region and there, and thededication and the saying the value of music
matters and it's important to our lives, and so our musicians are teachers too,
and that helps the art form continueon, which is personally very important
(29:21):
to me. I couldn't believe thefirst time I went to one of the
strings concerts here, I'm like,I don't even remember anyone in my high
school. I mean, I wasin the marching band and the symphonic band,
if you call that. We hadno violin. I don't even remember
anyone playing violin when I was akid. Now we have probably thousands in
this county the play violin or shallowor whatever, the strings commitment and just
(29:45):
music in general, but that onehas. What's blown me away are these
kids and the sound they can produceand how much fun they seem to have
and what they're learning. And thenyou combine it with all the choir and
the jazz band and the thing asthey do at these festivals. It is
amazing to see. Yeah, Andthat's a gratitude goes out to their parents
(30:07):
and their teachers and all that makeit possible, because they'll be the next
ones, the next musicians of theWheeling Symphony when they hear around here,
some of the symphonies around Washington County, wherever it is. I think we're
going to have some people for you. That's great. They're going to keep
coming out of the woodwork. Sohas there been a tough lesson over life
(30:30):
that has shaped you? I loveto ask this because I've heard some really
great answers from people. Sometimes it'sa combination of things, but sometimes it
is that, you know, Ihad to go through this, or I
had to go through that. Isthere anything that was like, I'm not
sure I'd ever do that. Ihave to be If I didn't have to
do it, I wouldn't sign upfor it. Has there been anything in
your life like that? Yeah,I would say. So. You know,
(30:52):
I'm a pretty driven person, andyou know, always uh you know,
I think that I like to movefast, asked, and accomplish a
lot. And but you know,I think personal tragedy and personal hardships can
really break up your whole world.And and so I, uh, yeah,
(31:14):
I went I went through a divorceabout five years ago, and that
changed my whole world. And andand then the pandemic you know, I
think that shook my world, allof our worlds. But you know,
I think what it showed me isdon't take anything for granted, you know,
And it's a massive The accommodation ofjust the last five years has been
massively humbling, and you know,prioritizing connection with people and prioritizing you know,
(31:40):
just cherishing the things that you youhave in front of you, and
and uh, that has been That'sthat's definitely been a big lesson. I
would say the pandemic even affirmed thateven more because I had never not heard
live music in my life. Ihad heard live music actually my entire life
until that point, and here Iwas sitting at a concert hall that was
(32:01):
empty and silent for a year.And so that has absolutely affirmed me that
I want orchestras around for a longlong time. My life orients around and
I process the world through music.And so I think the combination of those
lessons is just being honest with people, really see them first, and you
(32:23):
know, don't take anything for grantedthat you have and steward it well.
Beautiful advice and we appreciate your transparencyvery much. And wrapping up one thing,
I want to give you the opportunityto do because I know you've probably
run into this and know that youknow that thought of all the symphony,
I can't afford to go there.That's I'm more blue co all that stuff
(32:46):
that people have thought over the years, and you know, in some cases
some cities somewhere maybe rightly so.But how do we how do we let
people know that the symphony is forevery mm hmm. Well, we first
and foremost try to do that throughwhat we're going to present. And I
think a great example is in January, we'd setting the first Harry Potter movie,
(33:09):
and yes, a movie. There'sa lot of movies that are produced
for the concert hall now where theystrip out the soundtrack and the orchestra plays
it live. So you will watchSorcerer's Stone live in concert with the orchestra,
and I think that it's such agreat entry point because you might know
the movie and you're like okay,and then you might not have realized wow,
(33:30):
how great that music is by JohnWilliams, the same composer who wrote
Star Wars and Indiana Jones and youknow all these amazing scores. And I
know you're a film fan now,that. I know that John Barry is
my man, but I love alot of others, and so I think
it's on us to create enticing,relevant, open, accessible programming. And
(33:54):
that's why I love working with Johnand you know this organizations willing to do
that and willing to go the extramile to say, we want to tell
you stories about how this music relatesto West Virginia or Wheeling or you you
know. I mean, I thinkthat that's on us to make sure that
we're presenting things that are relevant tothe community, that are and not expect
(34:19):
And that's kind of the old,the older world of classical music. Yes,
it was elitist. It was like, oh, because many people were
trained as young musicians much more sothan they are now. Oh, yes,
you should love of course you're goingto love Beetho, and of course
you're gonna love these things. Youknow, there's a lot of dismantling of
that that still has to happen.But I really think it's on us as
the organization to do the hard workof understanding the community and presenting things that
(34:45):
showcase what an orchestra can do,but also honor like I like we were
talking about before the musician in eachof us and what we what we want
to hear well, and I wouldencourage people and you know, if you're
married, you and your spouse,if you go to Starbucks, you could
almost come to the Symphony for thesame But there are tickets that are that
(35:06):
affordable or if you've never been andyou want to just check them out.
We didn't want to miss what wasthe last August Yeah, the James.
Oh my gosh, that was acrowd. I'm just sitting here thinking there
could have been a screen here becausethis sounds like I'm listening to the movie.
Yeah, so good and so fun. Yeah. We have free concerts
in the summertime when it can beoutside of some of my favorite things.
(35:28):
That's one you see about aout youknow, thousands of people on the lawn
with their the blankets and their families. And so we have free concerts July
fourth, you know, we Ihear we do a pretty awesome free concert
here and weel yeah, and sothose are great and then you know,
we really it is important to usto make ticket prices accessible at the Capital
Theater and everywhere else that we play, because we want families to come enjoy
(35:50):
that together, you know, andcan we just plug the cap the acoustics
at the Capitol. I think mostof the best concerts I've ever seen are
here. Oh yeah, it's agorgeous theater. We're just the sound.
I'm a big sound guy, sokind of like the louder the better.
There is a limit, but Ilove to just be blown back in my
seat. Well, and the coolthing too is if you've come to one
of our concerts, you may haveseen like the white shell. It's kind
(36:13):
of the walls and the ceiling thatwe can put up when we're not amplified,
and that's an acoustic shell that pushesthat sound out into that beautiful theater.
And we also can take down theshell when we have amplification. And
so it's yeah, it's a reallygreat space and we want to fill it
up. Well, let's do thatmany great concerts coming. Give them the
website so they can always check outwhat's going on. Yeah, Wheelingsymphony dot
(36:37):
com. And you can follow uson Facebook and Instagram, and we've got
lots of stuff coming up after thenew year. I know every time because
I'm on your Facebook page, andevery time the Symphony at Ice had come
up. I'd get go to mywife because she'd never been to said we're
going, We're going, We're going, And then we knew we had a
couple of weeks later we'd have festalof sounds, so we know we always
have a great holiday time that.I've loved Symphony on Ice way back when
(37:00):
when it first started. I thinkI was working in Pittsburgh when it stopped
for a while, and then itwas brought back, and I'm so glad
it's here. It's just one ofthe coolest things wheeling offers. I think
when I finally got to see myfirst one and I'd been hearing about it
for a long time, and itwas magical. Yeah, it's just so
neat to see the whole community cometogether and different things going on, and
how many people have to That cannotbe an easy thing to pull off.
(37:23):
There's a lot of moving parts,a lot figuratively and literally, but there
are so many people so dedicated tothat coming to fruition and I could just
see the smiles and the pride inthe parents and the kids they get to
participate with us too. Yeah,I guess we uh probably ought to stop
before they roll up the weight thesidewalks are already rolled up. It's wailing.
(37:45):
One of these days we'll have thatdone too, and more people can
come see the symphony. And we'reall getting ready for that, and we're
all going to work together and we'regoing to rush it. Yeah, Sonny,
thank you so much for being myguest here on CEOs. You should
know. Oh my pleasure. Thanksso much for having me on and come
to a concert. I hope tosee you there, Yes, please do.
I'm your host, Mike Howard.This has been CEOs, you should
(38:07):
know, so we will see younext time.
Popular Podcasts
Las Culturistas with Matt Rogers and Bowen Yang
Ding dong! Join your culture consultants, Matt Rogers and Bowen Yang, on an unforgettable journey into the beating heart of CULTURE. Alongside sizzling special guests, they GET INTO the hottest pop-culture moments of the day and the formative cultural experiences that turned them into Culturistas. Produced by the Big Money Players Network and iHeartRadio.
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations.
Crime Junkie
If you can never get enough true crime... Congratulations, you’ve found your people.