Through Scheherazade, a Full Circle Moment for SLSO Subscriber
By Eric Dundon
As the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra prepares to bring Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov’s Scheherazade back to the stage on March 14-15, the sweeping, story-rich score is already stirring anticipation for at least one listener in the hall. For SLSO subscriber Emily Laycob, the upcoming performances are more than another entry on the season calendar—they are the realization of a memory that began decades ago, in a classroom, with a box of art supplies and a piece of music that never let her go.
Laycob’s connection to Scheherazade dates back to her childhood participation in the SLSO’s Picture the Music contest, an education program that invites students to translate orchestral music into visual art forms. As a student in the 1990s hearing Rimsky-Korsakov’s lush, cinematic score for the first time, Laycob was instantly transported. As the music unfolded, so did vivid images drawn from the black-and-white adventure films she watched with her father—fantastical worlds reminiscent of The Arabian Nights and The Thief of Bagdad, filled with motion, color, and imagination.
“I remember sitting in that art room with my eyes closed, just loving this music,” Laycob recalled. “It took me to a different time. I wanted to be there.”
Her finished artwork earned the top award in the 1998 installment of the contest, and today it still hangs in her parents’ home, a framed reminder of the moment when music and memory fused into something lasting.
That moment was not an accident. Laycob was born and raised in St. Louis, in a family where music—especially orchestral music—was a daily presence. Her great-grandfather, David Kornblum, immigrated from eastern Europe and played violin with the SLSO in the early 20th century. The family still owns his original violin.
Classical music played constantly in the household, greeting her each morning on the radio and shaping her sense of calm, focus, and emotional connection from a young age.
Though Laycob studied piano and later clarinet, it was listening—immersive, intentional listening—that became her lifelong practice. She grew up attending the ballet, opera, and symphony with her parents, experiences she credits with shaping how she engages with the world. Even when she moved away from St. Louis for college, orchestral music remained a constant companion.
When Laycob returned to St. Louis in 2023, becoming an SLSO subscriber was a top priority.
“It was the first thing I did,” she said, even before settling fully back into city life.
Today, she is a devoted subscriber, choosing front-row seats for proximity to the music and those who create it.
“I need to feel the ground shaking,” Laycob explained. “I want to see the musicians’ faces, their movement, every note they’re playing.”
Sitting close allows her to feel the resonance of the cellos, the tension of the violins, and the physical energy exchanged between the orchestra and the conductor. Live performance, she says, offers something recordings never can: an emotional immediacy that often leaves her quietly in tears.
Despite listening to Scheherazade for most of her life, Laycob has never experienced the work performed live. The upcoming concerts feel like a long-awaited homecoming—one that bridges one of her earliest creative memories with her present-day commitment as an audience member. She plans to attend the performance with her father, sitting together in the front row, sharing the music together.
For Laycob, the significance of Scheherazade goes beyond nostalgia. It represents the power of early exposure to the arts—something she is now eager to pass on. She has begun taking her five-year-old niece to live performances, hoping to spark the same sense of wonder that once took hold of her in that classroom years ago.
“I don’t think I’d have this passion if my parents hadn’t introduced me to it so young,” she said. “My life is more beautiful because of what this music makes me feel.”
As the SLSO prepares to tell Scheherazade’s tales once more, Laycob will be listening—not just as a subscriber, but as someone whose story has been shaped by the music itself.
Eric Dundon is the SLSO’s Public Relations Director.
