Humans of St. Louis

From INSTA to a BOOK to a STAGE PLAY! 🎭✨ Come join our splendid cast next week at the @StLouFringe on the following dates we'll be performing HUMANS OF ST. LOUIS at the @ZACKonLocust.

“You know, I don’t think I’ve had any conversations with my family lately about race. And that might be something that I need to change.” -- From the archive: Sep 2017 protests following the acquittal of former police officer Jason Stockley. #HOSTLbook bit.ly/3IzpPnx

“Can we interview you?” 📸💖 #futureHOSTLstorytellers

#ICYMI @Humans_of_STL recently featured SLSO usher Vivian Fox and IN UNISON Programs Manager Michelle Byrd. Check out the entire feature 👇 slsostories.org/post/vivan-fox…

Somethin special about passing on the skills to the next gen of female storytellers. 📸🎓

“Grandpa loved showing his family off, and he was very devoted. When I was 17, I told him I wanted to go to school to be a doctor. He said, ‘I’ll help you.’ And that was it. Once you got his seal on it, you were good. His word was gold.” 🎓✨ #HOSTLbook bit.ly/3U3tiwF

“I have a niece in Hermann, MO. I asked if she’d like my mother’s old sewing machine and said, ‘Okay, but you have to come get it.’ She said, ‘We’d have to go through a bad neighborhood to get there.’ I said, ‘I live in Kirkwood. What do you mean?’...” bit.ly/3OvjvOT

“My American friends in Boston opened a U.S. map while we were out having a 🍺, they showed me a few places in the Midwest, and said, ‘Wherever you go next, don’t go there. There’s nothing there.’ Guess what? After one year, I moved here. And I texted them, ‘It’s not that bad.’”

You're invited! 🎉

“Is there anything else you’d like to add?” “Thank you for your interest. And for including me. I am a human OF St. Louis.” A very special thanks to @slso and to Stéphane Denève! We’ll be back with more stories from SLSO soon. In the meantime, see you at the symphony. 🎻✨

“A lot of people in this orchestra are from humble backgrounds. I don’t think we represent any kind of elite. Because, as an orchestra, we all represent a part of society.” Stéphane Denève, @slso Music Director Read the entire story here: bit.ly/3OdS38a

Legend.

“At the end of a concert, as we say, ‘Music happened.’ 🎼✨ I mean, we do a job in which we’re rewarded with smiles, screams, and applause. Like every artist, I love being rewarded by seeing an audience erupting with enjoyment.” Stéphane Denève, @slso Music Director

“At the start of each concert, I welcome the audience. Then, in the most simple way, like a chef’s menu, I tell them, ‘This is what we’re playing today. I paired this appetizer with what you’re about to hear because this arrangement of flavor will match the first course.” @slso

“Powell Hall seats 2,600 people and you get this collective experience of what it means to share human values together. A performance is such a special experience that can be so positive. And it happens only once when you hear it in the moment.” @slso

“One thing that is overwhelmingly touching is that people recognize me here. I see people in shops, like Whole Foods and Schnucks and all these supermarkets, and they say, ‘Hey, Stéphane!’ They call me by my first name, which I love.” Stéphane Denève, @slso Music Director

“Everything is 15 minutes away. It’s a saying here. My wife says, ‘No, it’s 11 minutes.’ So I say, ‘That’s because you drive too fast.’ I mean, when we lived in Brussels, my wife and daughter had to drive 40 minutes to an hour to places that normally take like 13 minutes.” @slso

“I started conducting in the U.S. more than 20 years ago. One of the first engagements I had in this country was with this orchestra. I was invited back many times, which was good because you’re not always invited back. You have to earn an invitation.” @slso

“What do you think is the reason for conductor hair? I have a theory.” Stéphane Denève, @slso Music Director, breaks it down for us! bit.ly/3UElD98

“When you conduct, you have to show the beat and the impact and suggest something is solid, like, ‘Bam!’ However, if you experience this magical flow with the 🎼, sometimes there’s a feeling of immobility. Like two parallel 🚂🚂 moving at the same speed.” Stéphane Denève, @slso