Steve
Wenig (B.M. ‘95) studied Music Theory and Trumpet at Hartt from 1990 to 1995. He is currently living in Houston, TX.
What have you been up to since you
graduated from Hartt?
After graduating from Hartt in 1995, I went
to the University of Michigan to work on a master degree in trumpet
performance. Although I did my undergraduate
work in Music Theory at Hartt, it was the opportunity to study with great
teachers, like Chris Gekker, Roger Murtha and Jay Lichtmann which really got me
excited about trumpet playing. Those
opportunities, combined with the opportunities to play a good deal of heavy
duty repertoire with the Hartt Symphony Orchestra, really lit a fire in me for
orchestral trumpet performance.
After finishing my masters, I freelanced,
taught lessons and took a ton of orchestral auditions. Well, 37 to be exact but
who’s counting. My wife and I moved to
Houston, Texas and in 2004 an opportunity to work as the assistant personnel
manager of the Houston Symphony presented itself.
Constant auditioning and no orchestral job to
show for it was beginning to take its toll so I figured that I would try an
administrative position and if it turns out that I really miss trumpet playing
then I’d know for sure to keep auditioning. As it turns out, I really enjoyed working
closely with the orchestra, even in a non-playing capacity and I’ve been
working in orchestral management ever since. After being the Asst. PM, I became the
Personnel Manager and worked in that capacity for about 7 years. Personnel
Managers occupy a crucial link between orchestral musicians and their
employer. It is also really thrilling to
be in this part of the business and seeing all the work behind the scenes that
goes into how a full-time Symphony orchestra operates. As you might imagine, having a background as
a musician was invaluable in this role.
What are you involved with right now?
Currently I still work for the Houston
Symphony but am now the Director of Community Partnerships. In this role, I help develop community
relevant concerts and programming and also maintain the relationships with a
number of community organizations, social service agencies and other cultural
institutions. This summer, we just launched
a new Community Embedded Musician program. This is a new group of string musicians who
focus primarily on teaching and community work while also appearing as
substitute musicians with the orchestra. I also help advance the Symphony’s diversity
and inclusion initiatives as it pertains to the Symphony’s relevance within the
community.
What
is one of your most memorable things about your time at Hartt?
What was
most memorable about Hartt were the friendships and networks that were
developed and are still valued and in use today.
What did you learn during while at Hartt that
you did not appreciate or recognize until after time passed and you had some
time to reflect?
