We are excited to introduce you to our newest board member, Robert Pepple!
As a lawyer, a balloon artist, and a magician, Rob brings a wide range of experience and expertise to our organization. We are lucky to have him on the Elemental Music team, supporting young musicians and building community through music education!
Learn more about Rob in our interview below.
Elemental Music: What inspired you to join our board?
Robert Pepple: I was first introduced to the Elemental Music Board through Alan Alexander, whom I had met through professional circles. After a month or two, he mentioned that I might be a good fit for the EM Board, and I was jazzed at the opportunity (pun acknowledged). I did my research, met with Marcia and Josephine, and the rest was history!
EM: What excites you about Elemental Music?
RP: The opportunity to make a difference in my local community. I think we all want to do as much as we can philanthropically, but it can sometimes be difficult to find the right outlet for that intention. Youth music instruction has an incredible ROI for both the students and our community at large. In other words, I’m excited about joining the Elemental Music Board because I’m confident it will make a positive impact in the lives of my friends and neighbors.
Dr. Jo with balloon animals made by Robert Pepple
EM: Did you ever take music lessons as a kid?
RP: I can confirm a solid three months of piano instruction when I was in grade school. However, following (accurate) admonitions from my mother about the regret I would feel about stopping those lessons, I discontinued my official musical education. However, it turns out that artistic energy is not so easily suppressed, at least not over the long haul. So instead of being able to play a lovely sonata or a complex fugue, I can make a plethora of different balloon animals and became a Magician Member of the Magic Castle in 2016.
EM: I’ve never heard an adult say, “I wish that I had quit my piano lessons.” It’s always that someone says, “I wish I hadn’t quit.”
RP: Can confirm.
EM: Can you tell us a little more about what you do for your career?
RP: I’m a Partner at the law firm Nixon Peabody. My area of expertise is in “wage & hour” lawsuit defense and HR compliance (e.g., defending a corporation in a lawsuit about unpaid overtime and/or providing advice on how to comply with overtime laws).
EM: Do you find that your experience in the performing arts, particularly as a magician, helps you at all in your day to day life?
RP: Absolutely. As the late Theodore Roosevelt once said, “People don't care how much you know until they know how much you care.” However, it can sometimes be difficult to express care, concern, commitment, diligence, etc. in a way it can be understood by others. The performing arts helps a person hone their emotional communication skills (i.e., develops “EQ”), which helps in every interpersonal interaction. Or at least that’s one persons’ opinion, anyway.
EM: Is there anything you’d like to add?
RP: My career in law has occasioned countless contacts with non-profit boards. Seldom have I encountered a board that is as committed, organized, and far-sighted as that of Elemental Music. I’m very much looking forward to doing my part to effectuate the vision of the organization, in any way I can.