Barbara Hedlund

All the usual: hard work, of course. Tenacity. Stamina. The willingness not to give up. Years ago, when I did a search to learn about my origins and find my birth parents, the lady who helped me search taught me: Remember, at the bottom of Pandora's box, there is always hope. It's the one thing that's left in the box. So I rely on that. I'm an eternal optimist, and I try not to say no, and take your experience and try to make it the best I can.

Outside of music lessons, in my contracting business, one of my longtime mentors when I was working Broadway said: remember, and I knew what the rules were. Sometimes how you treat people or you react to a situation can make a big difference in the outcome. And one of the advice I ever got was, keep explicit, good records, and never have to look over your shoulder. Even now, because I'm involved in so many things, I do a lot of data management.

When I started out my career, I was lucky. I started a professional career in New York City back in the mid-70s, and I was one of the few women in the industry, and even growing up, I was the only girl. You have to hold your ground and try to move forward, because men were at that time, men did not want women in the orchestra. You have to prove your worth and let people know that you are of value and that you should be respected. I'm glad we're living in a time when women have more opportunities, and don't just give up because they're a girl. Nowadays, we can still be all of that, but speak our mind, and share what we know, and not be afraid to do that.

Luckily, people still like live music. People still want live music for special events. And I'm happy to help them find it, and help create it, or provide it if necessary, and help facilitate orchestras when they need good players. I think it's important to have groups work together and not just play in their own sandbox. I think combining resources sometimes can be useful for both sides to create something even more special.

As far as my view as a professional, I'm hoping my goals are to provide quality opportunities for my colleagues and students here at the university and in the community. Let them gain experience and visibility in the industry and learn how the industry works and how they can hopefully be successful in their careers and achieve their goals. Personally, I'm happy marriage. I have a husband and two sons. One is a stepson, one is by birth, and I have four grandchildren. So, in many ways, I'm very blessed.