The morning starts with a decision…which suit and tie will I wear for the day. When looking at my clothing rack, one will find a plethora of concert black in the form of black suits and shirts, tails, and a tuxedo, but hiding amongst all the concert clothes are elegant suits in blues, greys, and even one in purple Prince of Wales, which are the workhorses of my wardrobe. This clothing rack represents the duality of my life, which operates in the worlds of music and business. As a musician, I have been fortunate to perform all over the world as a French hornist in orchestras and Broadway pits, but have spent most of the last five years giving solo performances with new commissions written for me. However, my days are spent in the business world of Manhattan’s Upper East Side wearing suits, not in performance halls in concert black.
My passion for business started young when observing my father watching CNBC and reading the Wall Street Journal. I was also so intrigued by the phone calls he was making and the business decisions he would calculate. However, my life working in business came much later, with music taking the forefront as the focus of my education as a student at Mannes College of Music and an opportunity to serve as Principal Horn with The New 25th Anniversary Production of Les Misérables from 2010 to 2012, a job I had wanted since I was 11 years old. Yet after moving to Lincoln, Nebraska following Les Misérables to go back to school, an opportunity arose in 2014 to join Best Buy as a Consultant and the duality began.
With any kind of duality in life, finding the balance is a dance, and with the role at Best Buy, it came alongside working with the Omaha Symphony and various touring Broadway shows, as well as a full academic schedule at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. Over the years, my business roles have led me to the SaaS start-up space, the world of Italian couture, Swiss watchmaking, and more. With performing arts, my work in this area has transformed into global projects and partnerships over the last 8 years that have been fruitful in developing music and art for the next generation of musicians through a plethora of entrepreneurial work. These two lives have worked in tandem, with one helping the other, providing an information and education exchange. Now, this duality has led me to a role where I can bring my passion for music and art together with my love of business.
Seaman Schepps is one of the most historic and beloved jewelry brands in the world. This New York jeweler, which will celebrate its 120th anniversary next year, has dressed some of the most influential and iconic individuals during their long history, and their Madison Avenue boutique is a place I feel privileged to work. When the opportunity arose to join Seaman Scheeps, there was a clear draw to the brand for me given their unique designs and passion for creating the extraordinary, but even more so because of a personal connection to the brand.
When considering the creativity my role allows, there is something delightfully special about designing something alongside a client so that they can have a piece of the history which Seaman Schepps is able to create for them. There is something so personal about the art of bespoke manufacturing within the jewelry realm and it is somewhat of a lost art among historic brands and is something that Seaman Schepps brings to the forefront. For the musician side of my life, I can correlate the art of bespoke and fine jewelry making to commissioning a new work of music. With any new piece of music, it is a collaboration between musician and composer and is a special process. Turning to the duality of jewelry and music, one could consider the different stones and metals our jewelers have to create artisanal jewelry magic to the notes at a composer’s fingertips as they craft a symphony. There is something truly special about the way these two worlds come together.
If you had said to me 15 years ago as I was starting my education to become a professional musician that this is where I would be today, I might not have believed what I was hearing, but there is something truly special and beyond words about what I get to do in each side of my life. How they intertwine makes them a perfect pairing and I truly could not imagine it any other way. -SC
