This article first appeared in the St. Louis Beacon, Oct. 9, 2013: They come from different cities. Some with spouses or significant others. Some with pets and some alone. Each has chosen a different part of St. Louis to call home, but all share a passion for music, a desire to be close to Powell Hall.
They are the five new members of the St. Louis Symphony: Allegra Lilly, principal harp; Shannon Wood, principal timpani; Ann Fink, first violin; Ann Choomack, piccolo and Karin Bliznik, principal trumpet. And since their arrival in St. Louis, they all have been quite busy preparing for the first concerts of the season and becoming acclimated to their new home.
Allegra Lilly
Several months ago, Allegra Lilly was living in New York City working as a solo artist. She had visited St. Louis for a week, preparing for auditions and handily making it through the first round. But that just meant that she moved on to round two.
“It was April 29 – that date is burned in my brain,” she said. “There were six finalists; and for about an hour and half, we were hanging out in the green room at Powell.”
She wasn’t intimidated, but she knew she was in a room filled with other talented musicians, the sort of people who do more than play precisely and vibrantly. All could imbue their instrument with emotion and power, a whisper and a prayer.
Still, when she got the call to return upstairs, she suspected it was a good sign. And of course, she was correct.
Now, about five months later, the 28-year-old musician is focused on decorating her apartment in the Central West End and dusting off her driving skills.
After 10 years of living in New York City, Lilly said it was time for a new challenge in a more livable (translate as affordable) city and predictable (translate as permanent employee) rather than soloist (translate as freelance).
“I love it here so far,” she said. “It was a great time for me to move. “
So far, her favorite place to explore is Forest Park because “it is so expansive and so green.” She likes having quiet spaces to read a book and has ventured out for libations with fellow musician, Ann Fink.
Ann Fink
Fink, the symphony’s first violin grew up in Melbourne, Fla., and arrived here from Miami, where she was with the New World Symphony. She, too, was taken with the city’s green spaces. Her favorite spot has been Lafayette Park, and she has chosen to live in the neighborhood around it.
“With its old houses and great location, I fell in love with it,” she said. “It is close to Powell and downtown and Soulard. I think just to be able to use the park to go running is wonderful – every street is beautiful.”
She said she has tried the fare at Park Avenue Coffee and a nearby Mexican restaurant, and she is looking into taking yoga classes.
“I like St. Louis,” she said. “It is one of those cities you come to love the longer you live here.”
At work, Fink, 29, relishes being a part of such an accomplished orchestra and especially enjoys working with Music Director David Robertson.
“I think his way of programming is genius,” she said. “It allows the inexperienced audience member to come in and hear a great performance. But there is always an intelligent connection, Fink points out.
Shannon Wood
Shannon Wood, the symphony’s new timpani principal, agrees with Fink. Wood and his wife, Jaclyn, pulled up stakes in Grand Rapids, Mich., so he could have this post.
“Robertson was a big influence on why I came here,” Wood said. “He has a very creative metaphorical way of expressing his ideas. It is intriguing – it sparks different parts of your brain. He has a very artistic way of describing what he wants and that makes it really interesting.”
Wood, 46, and his wife like sampling the local cuisine and learning about specific attractions, but they began their move by learning about the housing choices here.
They knew they wanted urban, preferring a loft, and they wanted to find something not too far from Powell Hall. It didn’t take long for them to discover Washington Avenue with its industrial warehouse-type spaces.
“We did our homework and flew into town and drove around,” he said. “We got hints from fellow members of the orchestra, and we looked at different neighborhoods.”
Ann Choomack
Fellow musician Ann Choomack did, too. The symphony’s new piccolo player found her space, at least for the time being, in Dogtown.
It seems like an apt choice since the 36 year old came here with her yellow lab, Savannah. Though she is far from settled, she said she is enjoying St. Louis.
“What is so cool about it is that it is a big city, but it is made up of all of these little towns – each with its own restaurants and places to go and explore,” she said. “And while it is a big city, it doesn’t feel that large to me.”
It is not the choices that kept her from selecting a permanent living arrangement here. In fact, the reason is not in St. Louis at all.
It is her husband, Ralph Skiano, a classical clarinet player, who still works for the Richmond Symphony – the orchestra she just left.
“In music, you don’t always have a lot of choice,” she said. “There are only so many places that you can move.”
While the move does present some challenges and questions for this talented couple, Choomack said Skiano was very supportive of her desire to try out and of her desire to move here.
“He’s looking to move out here in January,” she said. “We both think it is nice to have a change.”
In the meantime, she and Savannah are looking for dog parks, and while Dogtown falls ironically short on that feature, her colleagues are everything they are cracked up to be.
“I always knew the musicians here were great – the flute section is so talented, and I am really lucky,” she said. “Now I know how friendly and welcoming they are.”
Karin Bliznik
First trumpet Karin Bliznik was surprised just how welcoming.
In the last few months, the 28-year-old Atlanta Symphony musician began hearing more and more about St. Louis. The city kept coming up at odd times and unexpected ways.
Some of her friends and fellow musicians, even her landlord, talked up St. Louis. He had visited while on a road trip last spring and said it was the highlight of the vacation.
Still, she and her partner Chloe Evans, a 24-year-old hair dresser, were a bit skeptical. A city in the heart of the Midwest, in Missouri – one of the most conservative states in the union. She really was not sure what to expect, though this Brockton, Mass., native did know there was no ocean in sight.
But what St. Louis did have mattered more. She knew the reputation of the symphony. She even knew musicians who had grown up here or moved here. And of course, she knew of Robertson.
“I have heard nothing but the highest recommendations about the symphony,” Bliznik said. “It was really important to me to try for this.”
And so she auditioned, focusing on the music and the opportunity. And then, as with Lilly and the others, she spent time in the green room awaiting a decision. Eventually, they called her upstairs.
“I thought maybe they wanted to hear me play another piece,” she said.
But that was not it at all.
“I got there and everyone was on stage with a beer in hand, raising their glasses in a toast,” she said. They offered her a glass and simply said, “Welcome home.”
Later before she left for airport, Robertson took her aside and spent about 30 minutes just sharing his thoughts and letting her know how happy they all are to have her.
“It was extraordinary,” she said. “For someone like Robertson to take time like that just to talk with me and see that I was comfortable. It was really something.”
And how have things gone since she and Chloe and their pets made the move to the south city area? Well, they have also been welcomed by their neighborhood and those they have been able to meet in the short time since they arrived.
And at work, Bliznik said she feels like she is a part of something really special.
“It is a really supportive environment,” she said. “Offstage everyone complements each other when someone does a good job. You really feel like you are a part of something great, and I think we all play better because of that.”
