Wheeling Symphony names Thoms as executive director, extends Music Director Devlin’s contract
Emma Delk Trending
WHEELING -- The Wheeling Symphony Orchestra on Thursday announced their new executive leadership team, with Sonja Thoms named the new executive director. In addition, Music Director John Devlin's contract has been extended an additional four years.
Since joining the WSO in 2019, Devlin has achieved much as the WSO's artistic leader. He steered the WSO through the COVID-19 pandemic, creating unconventional concert formats that allowed for live music despite COVID-19 precautions. These concerts include televised holiday performances, as well as the popular Soundbites concert series, which paired fine cuisine with thematic music. As a result, the WSO was awarded the Governor's Arts Award for Resiliency in the Arts in 2022.
As music director, Devlin has consistently brought a high caliber of guest artists to the WSO stage. From Broadway stars such as Sierra Boggess to classical music superstar Yo-Yo Ma, Devlin's guidance as Music Director has brought top-tier artists to the Wheeling community. In addition, Devlin's commitment to promoting living American composers has resulted in several new commissioned compositions on behalf of the WSO, including the groundbreaking Migrations in Rhythm: A Concerto for Beatbox and Rhyme by Evan Meier, featuring beatboxer and hip-hop artist Christylez Bacon as soloist.
Joining Devlin in leading the WSO will be Sonja Thoms as the new Executive Director.
A search for the executive director began in May of 2022. For the search, the WSO engaged the services of the Catherine French Group, an organization that works with symphony orchestras and other not-for-profit music organizations as they recruit executive leadership and senior management. Thoms was officially hired in June of 2023.
A Pittsburgh native, Thoms is a lifelong musician from a very musical family. Her love for orchestras began as a young oboist in the Chicago Youth Symphony Orchestra. She went on to study at Eastman School of Music for a Bachelor’s degree and Rice University for a Masters degree in Oboe Performance. As an oboist, Thoms has performed with the Lucerne Academy Orchestra, National Repertory Orchestra, New World Symphony, Alarm Will Sound new music ensemble, and soloed with Ossia new music ensemble performing the Oboe Concerto by Ellen Taafe Zwillich. Thoms also performed in Carnegie Hall’s workshop with David Robertson: Music of Messiaen and Varèse. Her teachers included Joann Rehkopf, Ray Still, Allan Vogel, Richard Killmer and Robert Atherholt.
After graduate school, Thoms found the world of orchestra operations through an internship with the National Symphony Orchestra at the John F. Kennedy Center. In 2006, she started working in operations for the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra. Over her nine-year tenure at the PSO, Thoms' work included concert production, long-term season planning, managing recording projects, leading multiple international tours, and supporting the musicians of the orchestra.
In 2015, Thoms moved to Nashville Symphony to lead the operations department. Thoms prioritized creating the framework and culture necessary to execute complex projects and produce remarkable outcomes. Some of her proudest projects include the annual Summer Community Concert Series, the Violins of Hope Project (2018), hosting the League of American Orchestras' annual conference (2019), supporting the return to the stage in September 2021 after 18 months of pandemic shutdown, and producing world premiere performances of Hannibal Lokumbe's fully staged opera The Jonah People: A Legacy of Struggle and Triumph (2023). Thoms is grateful for how her colleagues at the Nashville Symphony taught her the importance of compassionate leadership in crisis, creative collaboration and, most importantly, authentic community engagement.
"The Wheeling Symphony Orchestra looks forward to seeing the progress the partnership between these two skilled leaders will produce," says Mary Hanley, President of the WSO Board of Directors. "We have full confidence that the guidance of John Devlin and Sonja Thoms will allow the orchestra to continue to grow, succeed, and provide outstanding musical experiences to our community."