Jake Woollen 33 Occupation: Orchestra and choir conductor, Illinois Symphony Orchestra and Springfield Choral Society
Email: jwoollen@ilsymphony.org
Education: Bachelor of music in cello; master's in orchestral conducting from University of Michigan; post-graduate studies at the Vienna University for the Performing Arts
Affiliations: Illinois Symphony Orchestra; Illinois Symphony Youth Orchestra; Springfield Choral Society; UIS Music; Sing by Heart Dementia-Friendly Choir
What led you to your current career?
How does one arrive at hysterically waving a stick around for a living? Well, I grew up in a musical home. My mother is a wonderful singer and choral conductor, and I would lie on the floor upstairs and listen to her teaching singing lessons, only occasionally interrupting to sing a passage or two myself. I suppose somewhere along the way there I caught the musical sickness from which I have thankfully never been cured.
What is your greatest hope for Springfield?
That we recognize and invest in the simple things that make life meaningful and enjoyable: building friendships, connecting with nature, preserving our health, engaging with culture and the arts and cultivating community.
What would you like to give back to your community?
Opportunities for Spring-patchers of all ages and backgrounds to experience the transformative power of music, which can bring communities together like nothing else.
What obstacles have you been able to overcome on your career path?
Midway through my college degree in cello, I developed a severe ulnar nerve injury that forced me to give up my planned career as a cellist. Conducting offered a path for staying in music, but I really had to rewrite the story of myself on the fly and construct a healthy new foundation for my self-confidence.
What has been your greatest professional achievement to date?
Besides making the Forty Under 40 list? I am very proud of the Concerts for Kids we have put on these past few years with the Illinois Symphony Orchestra, which just won a Gold Award from the League of American Orchestras, and, thanks to a new partnership with Springfield 186, are now reaching over 3,000 kids each year.
What's the worst career advice you've ever received?
Don't move to Springfield. So glad I ignored that one.