Wayne Roden

SFS member since: 1974

Hometown: Auburn, AL

Music schools I attended: North Carolina School of the Arts, Northern Illinois University

Began playing music: At age 8     

Musical inspirations:  Melvin Ritter, Concertmaster, Saint Louis Symphony

If I were not a professional musician, I might be a: Winemaker or a writer

Favorite composers: Bach, Haydn, Mozart, Schubert, Mendelssohn, Brahms

Favorite works featuring my instrument: Mozart, Sinfonia concertante; Brahms, sonatas for viola and piano; Bruch, Eight Pieces for Viola and Piano

When I’m not working, I enjoy: Hanging out with my wife, author Barbara Quick

Recent reading: Far From the Madding Crowd, by Thomas Hardy; The End of the Affair, by Graham Greene; Freedom, by Jonathan Franzen

On my CD player/iPod: I don’t listen to that much on CD except when I’m preparing chamber music.

Favorite things to do in the Bay Area: Hike in the parks in the North Bay, go to good restaurants

Plus: I grow grapes and make wine (Pinot noir and Pinot gris). I recently expanded my planting to 278 vines. Someone once joked that normally grape plantings are usually measured in acres.