CHANGE YOUR TUNE

After 20 years in the music business, Robert Simonds resigned as principal second violinist of the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra in June 2021. He is now a MC/MPA candidate at the Harvard Kennedy School of Government and is seeking to merge his performing arts experience with public service. QUOTES “I wanted to leave the stage on my own terms.” “Add as much value as possible onstage and offstage...

After a decade and a half as a London-based freelance cellist, Patrick Tapio Johnson has retrained and has just commenced his first role as a software engineer with General Assembly. He hopes this will enable him to provide real, meaningful help to people, while solving some cool problems in the process. QUOTES “After the pandemic, things changed overnight. The pandemic wasn’t the catalyst but it...

Andrew Schwartz holds a degree from the University of Hartford and pursued a Masters from The Manhattan School of Music in Tuba Performance. He received an MBA from Georgia State University and now works in marketing insights for Central Garden & Pet. He lives in Decatur, GA with his wife and daughter. QUOTES “I could see orchestras filing for bankruptcy, and it was terrifying. I was under the imp...

Lisa Kobialka has been at the forefront of some of the most challenging trials in different venues across the country and handled more than 200 litigations. She counsels and represents both plaintiffs and defendants in complex intellectual property litigation, including trials and evidentiary hearings in numerous jurisdictions across the United States involving claims for patent infringement, trad...

Ingrid Martin transforms lives through music.  Her life-long mission: to make classical music relevant, interesting and engaging for everyone.  Insatiably curious, Ingrid constantly asks "Who is it for? Why are we doing this? How could it be better?" Her answer usually involves challenging norms and ditching long-held traditions to create meaningful experiences for audiences.  QUOTES “Probably mor...

John Parr-Culver is a Product Manager at Oracle with a background as a freelance musician and clarinet teacher. John is currently based in Austin, Texas and has performance degrees from the Eastman School of Music and Carnegie Mellon University. Image Credit Cheyenne Parr QUOTES “I got advice on what kinds of adjacent interests to music might be a good way to send my career path down.” “I had spen...

Dr Ralph Bathurst is a musician who performs orchestral music (viola) and light jazz (piano). This background in music making informs his primary interests which focus on how organisations can become more humane places where people can discover a sense of freedom and creativity. His work life experiences in management and leadership within arts and social organisations translate directly into his...

Anna Schaum is a professional violist and licensed counselor who works at the intersections of psychology, neurobiology, social and ecological change, in both clinical and corporate settings. She is Director of Ecosocial Development for an international photography business, and the founder of The Center for Sound Relationships , a resiliency studio in Portland Oregon.  QUOTES “I think of myself a...

Anna McDougall is a full-stack developer with a passion for JavaScript. She is known as "that dev who used to be an opera singer".  In addition to her upcoming position as Junior Software Engineer at Novatec Consulting GmbH , Anna is also a tech blogger, YouTube creator, and public speaker. QUOTES “I had to go into every situation looking for, and wanting to find the gaps in my knowledge. And the...

  Ingrid Martin transforms lives through music.  Her life-long mission: to make classical music relevant, interesting and engaging for everyone.   Insatiably curious, Ingrid constantly asks "Who is it for? Why are we doing this? How could it be better?" Her answer usually involves challenging norms and ditching long-held traditions to create meaningful experiences for audiences.  QUOTES “I’m seeki...

Jesse Livingston has a Bachelor’s degree from the Oberlin Conservatory and a Master’s degree in orchestral conducting from Ithaca College. He then transitioned into user research which eventually brought him and his family to San Francisco, CA. For the past 5 years, he has worked at LinkedIn and Netflix but is now undergoing yet another career transition; because… why not?  QUOTES “My wrestle with...

Erik Lautier is a former professional actor and opera singer who parlayed a web design business serving performing artists in the early 2000s into a highly successful career as an ecommerce and marketing executive at publicly-traded retail companies. Today, he’s an entrepreneur, an emerging composer, and a dad. QUOTES “The definition of making it on Broadway is doing the same show for potentially...

Caroline Juster is a personal trainer and online fitness coach living in Chicago, Illinois. She helps busy millennials get strong and lose weight without fad diets or gimmicks. Caroline received a Bachelor of Music from Northwestern University’s Bienen School of Music, where she studied trombone under Michael Mulcahy and others. QUOTES “Music school was challenging, I don’t think I was emotionally...

Jeff Miller’s first career as a professional musician has had an enormous influence on both his furniture designs and the way he makes that furniture - something he’s been doing for the last 37 years. Music has also impacted the way he teaches, but probably not his writing of books and articles. Read the transcript on Medium . QUOTES “No amount of practice gets you around yourself.” “I was never a...