{"id":1047,"date":"2023-10-28T15:15:00","date_gmt":"2023-10-28T19:15:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/rickollie.com\/?p=1047"},"modified":"2025-07-08T08:27:49","modified_gmt":"2025-07-08T12:27:49","slug":"meet-rachel-sompong","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/rickollie.com\/es\/2023\/10\/28\/meet-rachel-sompong\/","title":{"rendered":"Meet Rachel Sompong: The Illinois Violinist You Should Know"},"content":{"rendered":"

Illinois Symphony Orchestra<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

October 28, 2023<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There were more than those often-pesky computer programmers and their algorithms at work that thrust ‘Rachel’<\/strong> and I together. It was as if ‘Hiram Bradford Farmer’s’<\/strong> ghost had known I’d be writing about this and wanted his name mentioned in this story of an amazing ‘violinist’<\/strong> from ‘Illinois’<\/strong> that attended the very same school as this writer, and the one he principled over in 1886. This Halloween, 137 years later, Hiram your ghost gets its wish; but now this story belongs to Rachel … <\/p>\n\n\n\n

– Rick<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Rachel
Rachel Sompong<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Rachel was a challenge to interview; I knew she would be. She’s shy, hides her accolades well and has the most unassuming personality I’ve ever crossed. I had known for months that I had wanted to add her to my ‘Meet Me’<\/strong> forum. But I had to wait for the right time to ask. Had to make sure she was comfortable with where these little pieces headed. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The time arrived a few weeks back and I asked her “I may think about that. Sounds interesting,” was her reply. I anticipated this, was expecting days for a response, but hours later came “Ok I \u263a\ufe0f guess so. It’s probably a good thing for me. Sorry it took me all day to answer. Just got done with a rehearsal,” read her message a mere twelve hours after being asked and not the days I had anticipated.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Now that’s she’s opening up, lets\u00a0‘Meet: Rachel Sompong.’<\/strong>


Early Years:<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

     Rachel<\/strong> was born into a family of musicians, and as she began her interview tells me her grandparents even owned a music store back in the 1960’s and ’70’s. “So, it has always been in my blood,” she says of taking her first violin lessons at age four. “My mother played piano, organ, cello mainly but also could play violin. Her parents, my grandparents, were also musicians.” as well as her uncle and five cousins Rachel added. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Seven
Seven yeal-old Rachel<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

      How old were you when you first played in front of a crowd, was my next inquiry. Rachel’s replied “I was probably the same age or maybe five. I think it might have been ‘Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star’<\/strong> and all the Suzuki variations by memory,” she added when asked if she recalled the song. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The College Connection:<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

     <\/strong> We both came out of ASU<\/strong> (Arizona State University)<\/strong> with ‘Midwest’<\/strong> roots, and I began, you once told me \u201cI come from a long line of U of I<\/strong> (Illinois)<\/strong> fans in my family\u201d what led you from a dominant Big 10 <\/strong>area to attend a Pac 10<\/strong> school (in my day, Pac 12<\/strong> in your day)? And your take, I added, on the realignment which sees USC<\/strong> and UCLA <\/strong>moving to the BIG 10, while ASU moves to the BIG 12?<\/strong>   <\/p>\n\n\n\n

     ‘I went to Arizona State University, because they offered me a pretty nice scholarship<\/strong>. Mainly though because of the music professors and the music programs offered. My brother joked that I defected. To be honest, I wasn’t sure I wanted to go to U of I. Just because ‘I wanted to be different’<\/strong> anyways and get away from the area. Well for sure the dessert and mountains are different”.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

     “This realignment thing just shaking my head ugh,” Rachel added when asked her take “I can’t even keep up anymore! Definitely not the same.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

College Experience:<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

     <\/strong>I had already known of some of Rachel’s part time campus experiences but had to find out more, as she worked on a wide variety of things. I stated the following as a question. ‘I was a statistician for a community college\u2019s women’s fastpitch softball club before attending ASU. I can relate to the college experience. What was it like doing these other cool jobs? (Sidenote: I, also, wrote sports for the campus newspaper)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

      “One cool job I had at ASU…I was an usher and cart driver at ASU stadium when they had Super Bowl XXX,” <\/strong>she said, while continuing,<\/strong> “I would do college games and NFL<\/strong> and then just kept going to other things like volleyball ball roller person, basketball usher, swimming lane time stop “puncher” for swim meets, girls’ softball record scores at games…so long ago.” <\/p>\n\n\n\n

       “I really enjoyed being part of the stadium and sport scene at ASU,” she said smiling. “It was only because I saw something at a freshman orientation week thing about going to see the Super Bowl. It was a job application to work the stadium and it led to a lot of cool things to see.”  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

     “Super Bowl XXX<\/strong> seeing Diana Ross<\/strong> fly out the stadium and also seeing them practice this over and over, because my freshman dorm was right there,” was a highlight she mentioned and continued, “I also saw the Rolling Stones<\/strong> there and I remembered radioing into my supervisor, ‘hey there’s a fire on stage is that supposed to be there? No, it wasn’t.’ I was a cart driver for that. I also saw U2<\/strong> there in concert as an usher for handicapped section. It definitely was a fun job you could sign up for events and just be a part of it all. And get some $$$ for it.” <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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