OrchestraCareers was created by Sonja Thoms. Sonja's love for orchestras began in high school, when she played in the Chicago Youth Symphony Orchestra. She studied oboe at Eastman School of Music (BM 2003) and Rice University (MM 2005) with the dream to be in an orchestra one day. It wasn't until after graduate school that Sonja discovered a career in Orchestra Operations would be a perfect fit.

 

Now, Sonja has over 20 years of experience working for professional orchestras (Pittsburgh Symphony 2006-2014, Nashville Symphony 2015-2023, Wheeling Symphony 2023-2025). In addition to her current role as Director of Operations at the Chattanooga Symphony & Opera, Sonja is committed to mentoring those interested in orchestra careers. She has developed effective internship experiences in addition to personalized coaching, educational resources and group presentations.

 

Sonja uses coaching to help each person discover, strengthen and showcase the value they can bring to the work of orchestras. OrchestraCareers has become a community where students and professionals can gather, building relationships that equip and challenge each other.