By day, Dana Myers is just like any other community member. She has children, she is a teacher and she does the occasional volunteer work. By night, Myers is a performer. She plays on a world-renowned stage with a world-renowned orchestra.
Over the years, professional violinist Dana Myers has become an icon in the Clayton community because of her close relationship with Clayton Schools and her extraordinary work with young musicians.
“Because I have several students in the Clayton system, I have a connection,†Myers said. “I have great respect for Julie Hoffman and Ann Geiler [CHS music teachers], and this goes back many years since both my boys were in the Clayton system.â€
Along with the 10 or so students that she teaches privately, and her job as a first violin coach for the St. Louis Symphony Youth Orchestra, Myers has been working with the Bethesda Barclay House for senior living.
“My mother lives at the Barclay House which is right across the street from the high school,†Myers said. “On the first Monday of every month, we have a recital, and I combine my students with cellist Ken Kulosa’s students.â€
More than anything, Myers appreciates how her work at the Barclay House comes full circle to her professional work with the St. Louis Symphony.
“We get so much feedback from [the residents]. So many of the residents at the Barclay House come to the symphony,†Myers said.
Myers has enjoyed the balance and inter-connectedness of her professional work and her teaching. Though she performs in front of overwhelming audiences regularly, she finds her biggest rewards off the stage: “Seeing my students develop gives me great satisfaction and pride,†Myers said. “Watching them from the beginning stages to becoming more accomplished is very rewarding.â€