The Saint Louis Jewish community has yet another reason to be proud of its city’s Symphony orchestra: Andrea Kaplan, the Symphony’s newest assistant principal flutist.

Kaplan, a nice Jewish girl raised in the suburbs of Philadelphia, was thrilled at the opportunity to audition for the spot back in May. Even though she had just closed on the purchase of a condo in Tampa, Kaplan jumped at the chance to play with the St. Louis Symphony.

“When one of the most highly regarded symphonies in the music world has an opening in their orchestra, musicians like me have to — at least — explore the opportunity.”

Kaplan, just shy of 26, had been with the Florida Orchestra for three years as the principal flutist and was offered a long term contract just last year.

“I really enjoyed my work in Tampa and was ready to put down roots by buying property, although the truth is… I never really had a big connection to the community there.”

Buying property seemed like a good idea … especially to her realtor who was able to turn around and sell it again right after Kaplan got the job in St. Louis.

“It was a good year for her,” Kaplan laughs, “but quite possibly an even better one for me!”

After flirting briefly with the violin, Andrea began playing flute for the school orchestra in the third grade — in conjunction with piano lessons.

When asked why she chose the flute over the violin, Kaplan said, “My fingers were just too small for the violin. I always wanted to play the flute. I like pushing the buttons.”

Music was introduced to her at the age of three. Her mother, Patrice Kaplan, now an accomplished cantor in Broomall, Pennsylvania, was a trained singer with the Philadelphia Opera Company and instilled a love for music in both Andrea and her older sister, Sarah (who plays the violin).

“It’s just something that has always been a big part of my life,” Andrea recalls. “In high school it was so important to me to practice that I petitioned for an attendance waiver so I could skip classes to work on my playing.”

Since Andrea was an academic achiever the school set a new precedent by bringing her case to the school board to make special arrangements.

“What’s amazing,” Andrea recalls, “is that I missed about one-third of all my classes in my junior and senior years and still passed with good grades. I think it says something about the value of each lesson taught.”

Andrea worked tirelessly with one goal in mind: to get into the Curtis Institute of Music, where her then private teacher, Jeffrey Khaner, was a resident professor. Khaner, also the principal flutist at the Philadelphia Orchestra, was instrumental in getting Andrea into Curtis. The school is tuition-free for all students and only accepts three percent of those who apply. Andrea was determined to be one of the chosen few. Once accepted, Khaner continued mentoring Andrea during her four years and encouraged her to spend summers at various music institutes throughout the country including The Aspen Music Festival and School, one of America’s premier music festival and training grounds for young musicians.

Another inspiration for Kaplan was the late Julius Baker, who taught at Curtis and played principal flute on the famed Columbia Broadcasting Symphony (CBS) Orchestra recordings conducted by Bruno Walter and on the New York Philharmonic discs of 1965-1983, under the baton of Leonard Bernstein.

“He was amazing,” Andrea remembers. “He was one of those great musicians who consistently played well over his career.”

According to Andrea, a flutist is like an athlete, “as long as you keep exercising, you can play as long as your body allows.”

And exercising is another passion for Andrea. She bought a condo in the Central West End so that she could walk to most everywhere she needed.

“It’s partly for exercise and partly because I love an urban lifestyle and helping the environment as much as any one person can.”

Andrea also joined a gym right away, where she spends her time in the evenings and on Mondays, her day off. The orchestra performs Friday and Saturday nights and most Sundays. Tuesday through Thursday is spent working on the pieces that will be performed that weekend. Every week they prepare completely different pieces to perform, and Andrea, although the assistant principal flutist, must prepare for each performance even if she will not actually perform.

Andrea is incredibly accomplished — although she believes she still has a ways to go before reaching the level of St. Louis’s principal flutist, Mark Sparks — and attaining her life’s dream of playing principal flutist for The Metropolitan Opera, performing her favorite opera, Puccini’s La Boh ème.