Donor spotlight: Bob and Cynthia Hormell

Symphonic music has been a lifelong passion for Bob Hormell. Inspired by the score for World War II documentary Victory at Sea, Bob took up the trumpet at age eight, playing in bands throughout his youth. “You learned discipline and the sense of accomplishment when the whole band performed a work and did it well,” he says.

Bob first saw the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra perform in “late 1963 or early 1964,” when a classmate took him along to a concert at Principia College in Elsah, Illinois. He recalls Eleazar de Carvalho conducting as the SLSO performed Edvard Grieg’s Piano Concerto, among other works.

Bob’s passion for the music of Gustav Mahler frequently dovetails with his and his wife Cynthia’s love of travel.

“I’ve heard Mahler’s Second Symphony in London and Tel Aviv and five times in major US cities,” he says.

Of the hundreds of SLSO concerts Bob has attended, he says the most poignant was hearing the late Hans Vonk conduct Mahler’s Second for his final performance at Powell Hall.

Since he became a subscriber more than 50 years ago, Bob says the SLSO has evolved to deliver “always exceptional performances where you can’t wait to just let the music envelop you.”

As donors, Bob and Cynthia feel they can contribute “in a small way” to the orchestra’s continued evolution. Bob says that by giving at a level that allows them to attend annual meetings, he and Cynthia have a meaningful sense of involvement in the SLSO’s ongoing positive impact on the community.

As members of the SLSO’s community of generous donors, Bob and Cynthia also enjoy the social experience of attending concerts at Powell Hall. “Meeting one-on-one with Marie-Hélène [Bernard] and Stéphane [Denève] as well as the many staff members and volunteers just adds to our enjoyment,” Bob says.

Compiled by Iain Shaw.