St. Louis Symphony Orchestra
Stéphane Denève meets Peer to Peer mentee Denim Browder.
When Becky Lang, co-concert master of the St. Louis Symphony Youth Orchestra and recent Ladue High School graduate, arrived at Powell Hall with her dad for Bach’s Double Violin Concerto, she was more excited than usual. Sure, it was the first weekend of St. Louis Symphony Orchestra concerts after months of being shuttered by the pandemic, but Lang’s anticipation was for a different reason.
As Lang and her dad took their seats, she turned around, and just three rows behind her sat Essence Williams.
“Hi, it’s me, behind the mask,” Lang said.
Williams, an upcoming junior at Webster Groves High School, where she plays the violin in the Statesman Silver Strings, responded with an excited, “Hi!”
Lang and Williams were paired through the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra’s Peer to Peer program, a mentoring program that connects young musicians who may not have had access to private lessons with a youth orchestra member and a member of the SLSO.
The trio, as they are called, meet online for weekly lessons. So while Lang and Williams technically hadn’t met before this night at Powell Hall, they’d been working together with their SLSO musician, first violinist, Joo Kim, since October.
“It was really nice to finally meet her [Lang] in person because we had only seen each other on Zoom,” says Williams. “And afterward we talked to Stephanie Childress, the new director of the St. Louis Symphony Youth Orchestra, and Stéphane Denève, the director of the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra.”
The Peer to Peer program has been around for six years, though it has grown from four pairs of students to 16 pairs this past year, despite the COVID-19 pandemic. It now includes students from the Jennings, Normandy, Hazelwood, Pattonville, Webster Groves, Ferguson-Florissant, and Orchard Farms school districts, among others. The program focuses on “how do we help students, how do we provide them access to quality instruction, and how do we build a community around them so that they feel a support system and develop and grow,” says Malena Smith, Peer to Peer coordinator.
The trio’s relationship is key to the program’s success. “The youth orchestra members are bridging the gap–taking lessons with these high-caliber musicians is scary for any kid, but having a partner who may be a few years older and has been through everything they’re going through helps break down that wall so everyone feels comfortable,” says Smith.
This is Lang’s first year participating in the Peer to Peer program, and she admits to being nervous when she first started but has found working with Williams to be an “awesome experience.”
“The most rewarding aspect has been getting to know Essence. She’s so nice, and I don’t think I would have had the chance to get to meet her otherwise,” she says.
Williams has been involved in the program for three years and says “each year the program gets better and better.” She even had the opportunity to take a master class with SLSO Concertmaster David Halen. “I was so nervous, but I learned a lot from it.”
Developing a relationship with Lang has been a highlight for Williams, too. “Becky has always been really supportive, and she’s always encouraging me to do my very best. She talks about her experiences and helps me not be so nervous.”
The program’s also given Williams a concrete musical goal–to be a member of the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra and coach young musicians. In the meantime, she’ll be preparing for her next audition with the Webster University Community Music School’s Young People’s Symphonic Orchestra.
