SoNA brings great music to life

Tell us about your organization:

■ Mission: “SoNA brings great music to life!”

■ Services provided: We are a professional ensemble of about 65 musicians, and we present concerts and educational programs of all shapes and sizes.

■ Service area: Washington and Benton counties

■ Average number of people served annually: We serve a combined annual audience of 25,000 of all ages, through concerts, special events and school workshops. This season we will be in Fayetteville, Bentonville, Rogers, Springdale, Bella Vista and Siloam Springs.

How is your organization’s mission unique? We are the oldest classical music company in Northwest Arkansas, 65 years next season. The way music connects us is hard to articulate, because it’s so personal. Each listener shares an experience with the performers that is totally unique, and I love it when people describe to me what they heard or felt during a concert.

Why do you work for a nonprofit organization? Do you have a personal connection to the mission? If so, what is it? I have spent my professional life in classical music, playing cello. I work for a nonprofit because I am grateful for the philanthropic support I received as a student and young professional. My life would have been very different without it. Now I get to foster relationships and partnerships to create experiences that, hopefully, change the lives of many others.

What part of your job fills the most of your time? I spend a lot of time with some amazing people (board members, donors, leaders of partner organizations). I learn more from them about life, business and art than I can tell you here.

What have you learned on the job that you didn’t expect? I think I have become a much better audience member.

What upcoming fundraisers and/or other events does your organization have planned? This Tuesday, March 5, we hold our fifth annual Spring Gala, when we will honor Cynthia Benward Smith and Dewitt Smith for their extraordinary contributions to SoNA and the arts in Northwest Arkansas. After that we play Bach & Beethoven at the Walton Arts Center on March 9 (sonamusic. org/tickets) and at JBU on March 10 (jbu.edu/tickets).

File photo Musician Steve Haefner (from right) plays music while answering questions about his instrument and his work as a musician for Holt Middle School fifth-grade students Blythe Heimer, Peyton Wilson and Piper Shepley during a workshop hosted by the Symphony of Northwest Arkansas in the school’s library. Five members of a brass quintet played music for students before spending time answering questions and then ending the session with more music as a part of the orchestra’s ImagiMusic program it has established with eight Northwest Arkansas schools. The symphony’s Spring Gala is set for March 5 at Mermaids Seafood Restaurant in Fayetteville.

Herren