Overture Magazine - 2015-2016 Season May-June 2016 | Page 50

{ impromptu

48 O v ertur e |

L aura Farmer

James Wyman
Principal Timpanist

An instant family redefines his busy life.
BSO Principal Timpanist James Wyman’s life has
changed a lot over the past four years. Back then,
Wyman was a freelance timpanist living in Pittsburgh who was as disciplined about working out at
the gym as he was about practicing his music. His
free time was packed with physical activities like
rock-climbing and basketball pickup games.
Today, Wyman’s life is just as busy, but for very
different reasons: Last spring, he married highschool friend Elizabeth and became stepfather to
her two young sons, Landon and Broden. “Beth
and I went to the same high school in northeast
Ohio,” says Wyman. “We reconnected right before I moved to Baltimore in the Spring of 2013.
It wasn’t long before she and her boys moved out
here to join me. I got a new BSO family and my
own family all in the same year!”
Wyman also got a crash course in parenthood:
“There’s no handbook for being a parent,” says the
young dad. “It’s hard and fun and just about every
emotion you could imagine. I’m used to being able
to study things and figure it out. But that’s not the
way it works with kids. You sort of have to ride with
the bus and adjust on the fly.”
One of Wyman’s first lessons as a parent was
something every new parent learns: Young kids
have a lot of energy. Luckily, Wyman’s penchant
for fitness was good training for his new brood.
“One of the things we really enjoy is piling the kids
and our dog Simon in the bike trailer and going for
bike rides on the NCR trail,” he says. “The boys
love it. Beth and I are busy peddling and huffing
and puffing while the boys are back there having
a picnic eating popcorn and fruit snacks, watching
cartoons on their tablets and living the good life.
But they are starting to weigh too much! It’s time to
graduate Landon to a toddler bike that attaches to
our bike,” says Wyman.
Recently, pulling that bike trailer got even harder.

Mitro H o o d

“We just got a new puppy named Theodore to
keep our other dog company,” says Wyman.
“Now we’re pulling two kids and two dogs. It’s
crazy but it’s fun. I may not have the time to do the