Jaime Lewis – Full Article

May 2, 2025

Jaime Lewis, SLOS Board Member

Dear Symphony family,

I’m Jaime Lewis, a SLO Symphony board member.

I grew up in Nipomo taking piano lessons for years before I moved to New York to attend Vassar College as an architecture history major. While I loved my classes, it was the time I spent singing with the Vassar College Choir and studying music composition that really stuck with me.

Through my department, I took a position at Architecture New York Magazine, where I discovered a deep interest in writing. Later, I followed my love of music to work in the San Francisco Symphony development department. On our first date, I took Jake, the man I would marry, to Davies Symphony Hall for a SF Youth Symphony concert.

Ironically, he was a Cal Poly grad who said he’d always wanted to return to SLO. We’ve lived here ever since. While I now write about food, wine, and travel for a living, I spent eight years working for the SLO Symphony in music education, overseeing the merger of the Symphony and Youth Symphony in 2008. When my son Corban took up the cello several years ago, I took on a new role with the organization, this time as a Youth Symphony parent. Not long after, I took another one: Symphony board member. (Read more – link to website)

During college, my choir performed Anton Bruckner’s Os Justi Meditabitur, and that otherworldly piece has become my grounding wire for life. It has comforted me, moved me, and changed me when nothing else could. This is the power of music and the reason I serve on the Symphony board: because the arts aren’t just “nice to have.” They’re necessary.

One of the most fun ways to support that notion is by volunteering for Symphony In Bloom on May 10. I am helping with that event, which is sure to be a real celebration of all the ways our organization has planted seeds for the future. I hope to see you there!