KWS Artist Profiles: Allene Chomyn and Ian Whitman

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Allene Chomyn and Ian Whitman’s love story seems right out of a storybook. The two joined the Kitchener-Waterloo Symphony (KWS) in the orchestra’s 2007-08 season, Allene in the first-violin section and Ian positioned on the opposite end of the stage, as principal bass.

That year, they struck up a deal: Ian had arrived in Kitchener without a mode of transportation, so Allene agreed that he and his bass could carpool to performances in her diminutive 2004 Toyota Echo—if he promised to drive. Their relationship blossomed over hours spent on those long (and cramped) drives. In 2013, they were married at Kitchener City Hall. They took their wedding photos at Centre in the Square, KWS’s primary performance venue, and hosted their wedding reception at the Conrad Centre, another hall where the KWS has frequently taken the stage.

In the 15 years that have passed since they joined the KWS, the couple has built a life together in Kitchener, purchasing a home, welcoming two children, and becoming active members of the community. When asked about highlights of their time with the orchestra, they have no shortage of anecdotes to share. Allene recalls the innovative Intersections concert series, which featured unique uses of technology and pushed the boundaries of genre. For Ian, the orchestra’s 2010 Star Trek-themed concert, hosted by cast members of the show, is a highlight. The couple fondly remembers sharing the stage with their 7-year-old daughter for the first time last May, during a performance in which her children’s choir was featured alongside the orchestra.

Allene Chomyn

Above all, though, they have found the most meaning in the community work they have done, both through the KWS and as independent volunteers. They’ve each worked as instructors for the Kitchener-Waterloo Symphony Youth Orchestra and have played countless community outreach concerts, in venues ranging from special-education classrooms to prisons.

The couple planted roots in Kitchener because they believed they would have a steady, local source of employment that would serve them until retirement. When the KWS unexpectedly filed for bankruptcy after 78 years of operation on Sept. 21, 2023 (Allene’s 40th birthday), they were shocked. “I have never once taken my job in the symphony for granted. I know how lucky we are, especially as a couple, to be in the same orchestra. I have always said that I feel very privileged to have that, especially now that it’s gone,” says Allene.

Their lifestyle is about to shift entirely, as they turn from stable schedules in salaried positions to irregular freelance work. For the first time in their lives, they are no longer full-time students nor full-time orchestral musicians. “We’re in a very scary and incredibly unfamiliar place. Our thoughts go to dark places sometimes,” admits Ian.

Childcare had been organized and their calendars had been booked for the next year, in anticipation of a typical 90-concert KWS season. Now, though, it will require creativity to make up for that lost work, and to look after their primary school-aged kids—all with only one vehicle and no immediate family nearby to help out.

Allene has formed a string quartet with other members of the former orchestra, and owns a mobile hair-styling business: Allene Chomyn Hair Design. She plans for this to become a year-round venture, when previously it was only a focus in the summertime during the KWS’s off-season. Both Ian and Allene have booked sporadic gigs with orchestras across Ontario, but these are few and far between, and will require frequent travelling. It will be a “big balancing act” to co-ordinate their performance calendars with their children’s schedules. “We are looking, at least for now, at a life on the road a lot more. And it’s not the life we signed up for,” says Ian.

Allene and Ian’s family

In spite of all this disappointment and uncertainty, Allene and Ian remain committed to their community. Ian was set to take over from Allene as the head of the KWS Youth Orchestra’s senior strings ensemble in September. When the KWS dissolved, the youth orchestra went with it. Ian has been part of the heroic effort to reinstate the youth orchestra as an independent entity. His first rehearsal with the ensemble took place in donated facilities at Wilfred Laurier University on Sept. 24, only a week after the intended term start date.

For Ian, that rehearsal was the first redemptive moment in a week marred by stress and tears. He did weep that day, too, but this time from joy at hearing the young musicians play Robert Schumann’s Spring Symphony. The piece, which had been selected months prior to the orchestra’s dissolution, centres on the theme of rebirth and suited the occasion perfectly.

Like the other musicians involved in running the new youth orchestra, Ian is donating his time volunteering. Though he will not be able to continue as a volunteer indefinitely, his current priority is to help close the significant gaps that the KWS’s bankruptcy has left in the community. Allene and Ian’s crucial roles in the youth orchestra represent a full-circle moment in the story of their relationship: it was in a similar youth music program that Allene discovered the love for the violin that set her on her path to the KWS, and to Ian.

Despite the crushing overnight loss of what they thought their future would look like, the couple has hope that a new orchestra will form in Kitchener. They are buoyed by the support that the community has shown for the former orchestra and its musicians, in the short time since the KWS dissolved. Allene and Ian ask that members of the public continue to show their enthusiasm by encouraging local, provincial, and federal politicians to reflect that support at a government level, so that Kitchener can benefit from the presence of a professional orchestra for another 78 years to come.