I was recently able to interview Karen Wyatt, super-mom extraordinaire. She recently gave birth to her second baby, Vaughn, on March 7, at 12:49 AM. She realized she was in labor while playing the symphony’s Friday night concert and left for the hospital at intermission. A couple of hours later, Vaughn was born. She was fortunate that the pandemic had not quite hit the city yet.

Karen related, “As we were leaving on Sunday, the security guards were walking in to start locking down everything. Our older son, Vance, luckily got to come to the hospital the last day before they were restricting visitors. We were very fortunate.” Vaughn came about two weeks early and in hindsight, the timing was perfect. Now Vaughn is almost 4 months old and has started laughing, smiling, grabbing, and putting things in his mouth. He is also very vocal. According to Karen, “This just started like a switch, overnight! “

For Karen and her husband, Mike Pape (Utah Symphony percussionist), taking care of a three-year-old and a newborn with almost no help has been especially difficult. Although her mother was in town for two weeks, she had to cut her trip short due to fears of airline travel restrictions. In addition to Karen’s mother having to leave early, Vance’s day care shut down and he was home for ten weeks.

“It was probably one of the hardest things we’ve ever had to go through,” Karen expressed. “I had to take off my musician hat and put on my mom hat in addition to trying to educate at the same time. I felt responsible for continuing his learning so I started reviewing letters and doing crafts with him. S is for snake, T is for tree, etc.” The entire wall behind her was filled with alphabet-themed arts and crafts.

Now, Vance is back at day care and Karen feels they are really careful about taking safety precautions: “I feel pretty safe with him there. It is basically the only risk we take outside of an occasional grocery run.”

When sharing mom stories with fellow violinist and stand partner Evgenia Zharzhavskaya (who has a 16-month-old daughter, Kaya), both moms say they are completely exhausted. The days seem to be going fast.

The most challenging thing for Karen has been losing her identity as a musician as she tries to be the best mom she can to a toddler and a newborn. Sleep deprivation followed by the stress of parenting a toddler is no picnic.

I asked if she was able to get out at all and Karen replied, “a little bit. I have a really good fitness app that I like that I have been using a lot. I’ve also been able to take some socially distant walks with friends. But I cant wait until Mike and I can actually get out and go on an actual date! ”

When I asked Karen how her kids react and relate to music, she said that when her older child, Vance, was a baby, “he absolutely hated my playing! He was crying, crying, crying. And Vaughn, he really loves it! And of course with a second baby, they tend to be a little easier. Parents usually know what to expect and babies have to learn to go with the flow.”

As far as listening to music with her kids, Karen noted that Vance loves to listen to Frozen and any good Disney power ballads such as “How Far I’ll Go,” from Moana and “Let it Go,” from Frozen, as well as music from Tangled. They have seen all of the zoom concerts that she and Mike have performed with the symphony and Vance watches them over and over again.

When asked about the hurdles they have had to jump with both parents being in the orchestra while they’re on tour, Karen replied, “We’ve haven’t really toured with the kids yet. We went to Pocatello when Vance was young, and Mike’s parents came out and stayed with Vance here. Touring is great because Mike and I turn it into a mini-vacation away from home. Even driving to concerts… it’s our opportunity to have a little date night in the car.” I guess it makes you appreciate those little but important moments that tend to be few and far between.

When asked how often she is able to practice violin while taking care of the little ones, Karen replied, “Not too much, unfortunately. Having Vaughn home and Vance at school, I’m able to a bit here and there. We’re trying to keep up with things that need to get done around the house. Now that Vance is back at school, I have some more time. But it’s been really hard to be motivated. Mike actually bought us some Marimba/Violin duets that we’ve been working on, so that’s something!”

Karen is looking forward to when the symphony announces upcoming concerts, hopefully beginning this fall: “I miss performing with my colleagues constantly, and I can’t wait to get back on stage again and bring live music back to our community. I’ve only introduced Vaughn via Zoom and it’ll be so great when everyone gets to finally meet him in person!”

Karen enjoys being out in the garden. She was recently able to take her kids to Millcreek Gardens. Vance was able to help plant some flowers that he’d picked out himself. Their garden also consists of lettuce, tomatoes, squash and cucumbers.

Regarding the symphony’s first rehearsal (hopefully sooner rather than later), Karen said, “It makes you want to cry. It will be really emotional for everybody just to be back in any kind of capacity.”

I caught a glimpse of Vaughn during our video chat and he is adorable! Thanks to Karen for taking time out of her busy mom-schedule to give this interview.

-Lynn Rosen

View Karen Wyatt’s bio here

*This is the first of three articles about new additions to our Utah Symphony family.
Clarinetist Erin Svoboda-Scott and Asst. Principal Second Violin Evgenia Zharzhavskaya both are parents of 1.5-year olds.