By DEREK REDD

WHEELING — From the age of 13, Sonja Thoms had wanted to be a professional musician in a symphony orchestra. She put herself on that path as an oboist, earning bachelor’s and master’s degrees in performance.

Yet, during her master’s studies at Rice University, she was introduced to a role that would set her on a different trek. She would remain around orchestras for her career, but rather than performing for them, she would be overseeing them.

Thoms is about six months into her role as executive director of the Wheeling Symphony Orchestra. While it’s a departure from the goals she had for herself as a teen, her current mission in music is just as fulfilling.

Growing up in Pittsburgh, Thoms had no way of avoiding a life in music. Her father Hollis is a composer. Her aunt spent 40 years as a violinist for the Columbus Symphony Orchestra. Thoms wanted to perform as well, but she said the opportunity at Rice was a turning point in her career.

“They always had a student be the director of the chamber music series for kids on campus,” she said. “So essentially, we brought kids in from the local schools, kindergarten through fourth grade, six times through the year. And so my job was to choose the music for those concerts, recruit my classmates, I was the emcee.”

After graduating from Rice, she searched for an orchestra job, returning home to her parents in Maryland. Her parents suggested she apply for an internship at the Kennedy Center in Washington D.C., and she won an operations internship. That led to a role as an operations coordinator with the Pittsburgh Symphony, and her career behind the scenes of orchestras began to take off.

She eventually moved to the Nashville Symphony Orchestra, working as vice president of operations there. During that tenure, she learned of the executive director opening at the Wheeling Symphony Orchestra. One of the things that intrigued her about that orchestra was that, in the throes of the COVID-19 pandemic, the WSO was still performing music when so many other orchestras, including Nashville’s had to shut down.

“This was the size organization I wanted to try to be an executive director at,” she said. “The versatility and agility that I saw at an organization like this being able to, number one, navigate the pandemic differently, but also, there’s a lot of creativity in an organization this size. And I was ready for a kind of a, just a change in how an orchestra can be in a community.”

Now as the WSO’s executive director, Thoms has a hand in every aspect of the operation — marketing, fundraising, operations, production and more. Her background in performance serves her well as it helps her understand how her performers are thinking.

One of the things Thoms enjoys about her current job is the ability to talk to students about working for professional orchestras. She sees herself in the young people she talks to, and she counsels them to figure out where their strengths lie and lean into them. Doing so can provide a clearer path to a fulfilling and enjoyable career.

“When I was younger, I wanted to cast a wide net and be all things to all people, which pretty soon in life, you’re going to learn that’s not sustainable,” she said. “And so what I find is the encouragement I want to give is to really honor yourself and think about what you’re best at. What are you most passionate about?

“And it’s going to feel risky, but lean into that individuality,” she continued, “and find people who have jobs that you think are cool, and let’s get you connected to them. So I think it’s a mix of what your perception of where you want to go is, and then testing it by talking to people who are in the jobs you think you want. Allow yourself to discover and kind of be free and open to where your path might lead you.”