Building Tempo

It Takes Creative and Innovative Concert Programming

2011-11-14T15:55:00.000-08:00

The piece that you hear in the video below was commissioned by the Orchestra of Southern Utah. This is a programmatic work (meaning a piece of music that is based on something other than music), that was composed by Marshall McDonald and Steven Sharp Nelson. It's about 3 cultures that settled along the Old Spanish Trail; the longest trail in American history. This route stretches about 1120 miles long from Santa Fe all the way to Los Angeles, which took about two and a half months to travel.

"The Spanish Trail Suite"

Composed by Marshall McDonald and Steven Sharp Nelson

Conducted by Xun Sun

Video Producted by Video Ideas Productions

The Orchestra of Southern Utah used the music to complement the images and interactive visuals, while the video brought the music to life. The music was performed by a live orchestra while playing the video in the background. The fact that the work uses images straight from the Spanish Trail in Utah makes this work a great way to connect to the local community. This type of performance is not very common, as not many of these types of programmatic works exist, which emphasizes its creative and innovative quality.

The following video takes you behind the scenes with the composers of the piece and the conductor, Xun Sun as they talk about their ideas that led to the final product and its performance.

It is difficult for many symphony orchestras to commission new works, and implement them into new concert programs. The reason for this is because it takes coordination with the National Endowment for the Arts, as well as partnerships with other foundations and funding. However, I believe that it is important to implement news works into symphony programs in order to support existing composers and to add some variety now and then.

I hope you enjoy the videos! I know I did!

See more videos by the Orchestra of Southern Utah here!

It Takes an Orchestra Personnel Manager

2011-11-07T13:09:00.000-08:00

This post will summarize the duties that are required by the Orchestra Personnel Manager.

The Orchestra Personnel Manager administers all personnel of the orchestra. This means that he/she applies the master contract, prepares and maintains payroll and other records, schedule musicians, hires substitute/extra musicians, and coordinates auditions. The Personnel Manager is the liaison between the conductor and musicians; the administrative staff and musicians; and the management and musicians’ union. See specific tasks and duties after the jump!

Specific tasks/duties required by the Orchestra Personnel Manager include:

Keeping a list of extra/substitute musicians on hand for hire if necessary
Making sure the librarian has prepared music for performers appropriately
Keeping the conductor informed of rehearsal time
Keeping record of complaints, tardiness, inappropriate behavior by orchestra personnel
Ensuring personnel compliance with the master agreement/contract
Recommending, drafting, and preparing schedules for executive director, music director, and musicians
Ensuring accurate payrolls and recording any variations (such as extra services, doubling, overtime, small ensemble payments)
Collecting signatures from staff and personnel, confirm timely distribution for payment, and fix discrepancies with Finance Director
Monitoring recording sessions
Assisting Executive Director with preparing annual music contracts
Organizing potential musician auditions; establish candidate requirements, inform candidates of audition details, schedule auditions, greet candidates and run actual auditions

This managing position must require great personal skills, considering its great demand for personal correspondence. I hope this information is useful!

It Takes an Orchestra Librarian

2011-11-07T12:32:00.000-08:00

This post will summarize the duties that are required by the Orchestra Librarian.

This position is necessary to provide and organize the music for performances, and to keep track of the orchestra’s music collection, complete with all parts and scores.

The Orchestra librarian must purchase or rent music when needed, take or send shipments of music, make sure music is in acceptable condition, and ensure that copyright laws are being followed. The librarian must also edit, proofread, distribute, and annotate parts. He/she works with the music director and orchestra soloists to prepare music according to their preferences, in addition to providing legible parts to musicians in advance for rehearsals. The librarian is also responsible for cataloguing and filing the library, maintaining an up-to-date inventory, and ensuring the return of all borrowed music.

Administrative duties are as follows:

Processing payments for music and supplies
Reporting all music performed at concerts to ASCAP, BMI, and/or SESAC for licensing, and paying their annual fees
Projecting repertoire expenses for budgeting
Keeping orchestra performance records
Providing program lists and instrumentation needs to staff when requested
Preparing concert time sheets
Researching costs for required music purchases
Preparing music for auditions
Working with artistic staff to acquire and prepare scores for performances

More symphony staff job descriptions are to come!

It Takes Conscientious Personal Communication

2011-11-03T15:12:00.000-07:00

A couple of weeks ago, I interviewed Sally Fitts, the Office Manager of the Stockton Symphony to learn about the role of communication skills in her profession. She informed me that most valuable form of communication in symphony correspondence in the office was personal communication with donors, patrons, and partners.

As Office Manager, Sally Fitts takes phone calls throughout the day, dealing with ticket sales, donations/grants/in-kind contributions, and community outreach endeavors. Sally is the first person that people speak to when they call the Stockton Symphony phone line. For this reason, she must take great care in assisting potential concert attendees, donors, sponsors, local school district affiliates. She must listen carefully to any questions or requests that the caller might have and ask upon them accordingly.

Sally is responsible for directing information to any symphony board or staff member when it is appropriate for their line of work. Emails are sent in these cases, however, Sally believes that personal communication is the most effective in this environment in order to transfer information clearly and quickly.

The Stockton Symphony has a website where people may buy tickets to concerts. Sally is concerned that the internet is taking away from developing personal relationships with the public. Without good personal relationships, it is difficult to guarantee that people will continue to return to symphony concerts. This is why Sally places great importance in being helpful, mindful, and engaged when communicating with people on a personal level.

Conscientious personal communication is important for any symphony organization to work on in order to develop a loyal customer base.

It Takes "Artistic Vibrancy"

2011-11-02T20:52:00.000-07:00

According to the Australia Counsel for the Arts, a performing arts organization with "Artistic Vibrancy" possesses and integrates five different key things. These include:

artistic quality or excellence; how well the musicians and the orchestra as a whole executes its performances
audience engagement and stimulation; thought provoking to the audience, influences listeners to question, think and feel
a fresh approach to the preservation or development of the art form;
catalyst for artist growth/improvement
community relevance; an ideal asset to communities even outside of its usual audiences

It makes sense for a symphony to have artistic vibrancy, as these qualities match the business' goals as well as the standards to which the performers work towards.

Some ways in which symphonies can attain artistic vibrancy are by:

being open to feedback from peers, staff, audience, the wider community, other artists, and funders
enforcing strong artistic governance
maintaining strong artistic leadership
implementing organizational mechanisms to receive feedback and respond to it
sharing the same artistic purpose within the whole company
being self-aware and able to self-evaluate/assess feedback that is given by outside sources

It is difficult to evaluate a symphony's degree of artistic vibrancy on a quantitative scale. Based on historical evidence, a generally effective step-by-step process for self-assessment is as follows:

Regular artistic reports to the Board of Directors
Gather audience feedback
Consult with peer to review the company's progress
Consider artists' personal reflections
Consult with staff
Consult with the community through surveys
Artistic Director provides summary about lessons learned through this process and shares ideas on how to implement new strategies into the next plan

After this self-assessment, the organization must then formulate a funding plan in order to incorporate the new ideas into the symphony's overall budget.

Artistic vibrancy is basically the driving force of a symphony orchestra, which leads me to conclude that it should be assessed on a fairly regular basis.

Until next time!

-Liz

Some of the information for this blog was provided by:
Australia Council for the Arts, Defining artistic vibrancy: a discussion paper for the major performing arts
sector, Sydney, Australia Council for the Arts, 2009
[http://www.australiacouncil.gov.au/research/music/reports_and_publications/defining_artistic_vibrancy], Licensing to use this work is provided by: [http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/2.5/au/]

It Takes a Director of Finance and an Information Systems Manager

2011-10-24T08:11:00.000-07:00

This post will summarize the duties that are required by a symphony orchestra's Director of Finance and the Information Systems Manager. In cases of larger orchestras, these functions are divided between multiple roles.

Director of Finance
The Finance Director handles business and financial functions for the organization such as planning, control, and reporting. This person must prepare an annual operating budget and long-term plan complete with projections, monthly financial statements, banking correspondence, information systems management, and facilities operations. He is also responsible for dealing with payroll, employee benefits, and personnel policies.

Information Systems Manager
The Information Systems Manager plans, purchases, installs, configures, and maintains all information systems hardware and software. This staff member assists the entire organization with applications, programming and technical issues dealing with accounting marketing and development applications. He must train and guide staff in how to use applications efficiently and also makes recommendations for appropriate purchases of new systems and applications to the organization.

To see the full list of staff that is essential to run a professional symphony orchestra, click here.

It Takes a Director of Education and an Operations Manager

2011-10-24T08:00:00.000-07:00

This post will summarize the duties that are required by the symphony orchestra's Director of Education and the Operations Manager. In cases of larger orchestras, these functions are divided between multiple roles.

Director of Operations

This person is like the glue of the orchestra because they are the one who makes sure that scheduling and production (facility/equipment rental, staging requirements, logistical arrangements) of each event operates steadily, effectively, and with financial responsibility in mind. This Operations Manager must make sure to execute several specifications provided by the master agreement and also corresponds regularly between the orchestra and the rest of the organization. He works closely with Development, Marketing, and Public Relations departments.

Director of Education

This person is responsible for creating, developing, managing, and evaluating each education and outreach program that parallel the organization policies and education goals. The Director of Education plans and regulates all educational activities, and oversees all volunteers and staff participating in any part of a program. The Director of Education serves as a representative for the symphony when working with other arts, education, and civic institutions to establish partnerships in the community. This Director might work with the Marketing Director occasionally to handle ticketing for education programs, brochures, newsletters, flyers and advertisements.

To see the full list of staff that is essential to run a professional symphony orchestra, click here.

It Takes a Director of Development and Marketing

2011-10-24T07:55:00.000-07:00

In this post, I will talk about the duties that are required by a symphony orchestra's Directors of Development and Marketing. In cases of larger orchestras, these functions are divided between multiple Directors.

Director of Development

This person is responsible for the development, management, implementation, and evaluation of the main fund-raising campaign that matches the organization’s objectives and needs. He guides staff and any volunteers with planning all giving programs, such as annual, sponsorship, capital, endowment, and planned funding, in addition to events and benefits. Grant applications are made by the Director of Development to federal, state, and local government agencies that issue arts funding, as well as to private foundations and corporations that supply art grants. The Director of Development must recommend fund-raising policies and procedures to the Executive Director and to the Board in order to create an overall program for the whole year that exhibits the professionalism and ethical control of the symphony. Regular reporting to the Board and the Executive director is necessary to inform them on event and campaign progress.

Director of Marketing

This person is in charge of planning, supervising, operating, and examining programs in accordance with attendance and ticket selling goals for events while increasing visibility of the organization. The Director of Marketing constructs and runs all marketing activities such as:

public relations (press, program books, newsletters)
advertising using print, electronic and/or media
season subscriptions and renewals (via direct mail and/or phone)
ticket sales (box office)
audience research
subscriber activites
merchandising

To see the full list of staff that is essential to run a professional symphony orchestra, click here.

It Takes an Appropriate Concert Hall

2011-10-23T04:30:00.000-07:00

This fascinating video explains why it is important to have a concert hall with good acoustics and a welcoming design. Good acoustics will highlight the talent and virtuosity of the symphony, and a welcoming design will create a comforting atmosphere for patrons. Such a large and sophisticated hall is usually only within the financial scope of well established symphonies, so each organization must be well aware of their fiscal capabilities before contracting a new project.

Yup, just in case you didn't notice, that is my background =) Isn't it GREAT? I love experiencing new halls!

It Takes Reaffirming the IRS that Symphony Orchestras are of Public Value

2011-10-19T20:12:00.000-07:00

According to the League of American Orchestras, U.S. symphonies are in great danger having to pay a ticket sales tax under internal revenue code. In order to prevent this from happening, the League of American Orchestras and these nonprofit organizations must be able to prove their level of public value among consumers and communities.

Currently, all American symphony orchestras are classified as tax exempt organizations. Do you remember the criteria for being considered a nonprofit organization? Their main purpose is to benefit the community, not to make a profit. But how does the government acquire the proof that it is really executing that mission?

Notice, a for -profit organization's purpose is to maximize revenues and values to shareholders. The IRS can easily deduce from data whether an organization's revenues are increasing or decreasing and how they are spending profits, which gives them the evidence to classify them as "for-profit" so they can demand a federal income tax payment.

One of the issues here is that nonprofit organizations DO try to maximize their revenues as well, and the IRS may not realize that they generate this revenue in order to recycle it back into the company and continue to serve the community.

If all American symphony orchestras fail to keep their tax exempt organization status, I can only imagine that the overall quality of life in this country would decrease exponentially. As an art form with origins that can be traced back to the Renaissance period, music, or more specifically, symphony orchestra performances have become something sacred should not be taken for granted or abused.

I strongly believe that if the IRS imposed a ticket sales tax and, symphony orchestras would go out of business very quickly. Some ways in which they would suffer would be:

Donors with lower incomes might revoke their contributions or at least decrease their gift amounts. In result, a ticket sales tax would cause double the impact on available funding.
Regular subscribers might stop their subscriptions or turn to single-ticket buying
Lower cash reserve would force symphony orchestra executives, board members and personnel out of jobs; nearly guaranteeing operational instability

I have yet to hear about one symphony orchestra that does NOT attempt to improve their surrounding communities in some form or another. I may have mentioned some of these tactics in previous blogs, but symphonies attempt to benefit the public by:

Educating their audiences about music history
Serving as a motivational, educational and/or musical standard for young musicians
Partnering with other nonprofit organizations as marketing aids for each other, which often results in reaching out to newly enlightened audiences.

In addition, studies have PROVEN that music is an irreplaceable healing and coping mechanism for the human body and mind whether for illnesses or for everyday situations. A great amount of ticket buyers attend because they actually enjoy listening to and watching live symphony orchestra performances. In this case, symphony orchestra performances improve the overall health of their communities at least slightly.

In my opinion, music and general education go hand in hand. For this reason, both of these things should be equally as preserved, but since the downfall of the economy, they have been poorly funded and maintained. How would future generations survive without a quality foundation in both performing arts and education? The League of American Orchestras and every American orchestra needs to work together to inform the IRS that symphony orchestras cannot be burdened with the additional expense of ticket sales tax, since it would make a negative impact not only on symphony orchestras, but also on education.

Managing symphony orchestras in this changing environment requires development of a new strategy to convince the IRS and the general U.S. public that symphonies ARE invaluable assets to each and every community and their tax exempt organization status should not be taken away. Nonprofit organizations are tax-exempt under Internal Revenue Code, and a symphony orchestra should not be an exception to the rule.

This subject is a real concern to me, as I hope to enter this career path in the near future! This blog post is my contribution to helping symphony orchestras prove that they deserve to retain their tax exempt status. I would love to hear your thoughts about this potential symphony orchestra ticket sales tax creation or about the supposed decline of the symphony's public value and importance.

-Liz

It Takes Informed Concert Programming

2011-10-18T04:14:00.000-07:00

Like any type of business, developing, preparing, and presenting the product is the main goal. In terms of the symphony, the concert and the music being played at this concert is what your audience pays for.

Programming is dependent on consumer demand and market competition.

Research must be done before selecting pieces to ensure that patrons will actually be interested in the particular genre that is to be performed and whether people would be willing to travel to your particular venue over competitors'.
Even if there is a high demand for classical music in the surrounding area, symphonies must be sure to differentiate their concert programs from each other if there are multiple performing groups within a close radius.

Developing the concert program requires contribution from:

the music director
the artistic planning department (if the organization is established enough to have one), and
the performers (to some extent)

As shown in the San Jose Symphony study (also mentioned in a previous post: It Takes Awareness of the Demographic in the Region), differentiating their programming was not enough to attract sufficient patrons to their concerts. They failed to realize that the demand for classical music was high, but not high enough to provide business to the very abundant supply of classical performances available in the Bay Area.

In other words, the San Jose Symphony was screwed regardless of the quality of their concert programming. One of their problems, in my opinion, was that they were not informed well enough about their audience preferences.

The organization thought that their audiences wanted to hear traditional classical music, but let's be honest, that's not always what the public majority wants. We are in an ever-changing market, and music is changing almost as rapidly as technology is. Most of us just want to hear newer compositions once in a while and we ce don't want to hear the "Mozart/Beethoven/Haydn Trinity" throughout every concert. Yes, works by the "Trinity" are essential once in a while. I would say that 1 piece by one of them in a 3 concert series is ideal, but one piece every concert is a bit much.

I have exceptions to my point, however, and one of them is for the symphony to hold a special concert that will be specifically marketed as a traditional Mozart, Beethoven, and/or Haydn classical feature (titled appropriately, of course). Another exception might be in the case of a composer's birthday concert where the symphony can just play a list of that composer's pieces.

That aside, the frequency in which a symphony performs a concert of traditional classical repertoire varies depending on the size of the symphony and how well established it is.

More funding = More concerts.

An example of one of these concerts, usually lasting between 1 hour and a half to 2 hours, might include:

R. STRAUSS: Metamorphosen
SCHUMANN: Cello Concerto
BACH: Violin Concerto in E Major
MOZART: Symphony No. 35: Haffner

Most symphonies also implement "Pops" concerts during holidays or other special events (such as fundraiser benefits), which include more well known/popular pieces that are relevant to the occasion.

Well that's it for now!

While you wait anxiously for my next blog post, tell me about your favorite concert program that you've experienced!

-Liz

It Takes Education and Community Involvement

2011-10-15T20:51:00.000-07:00

Education programs are usually a great part of a symphony's community involvement endeavor.

The Stockton Symphony is one of many that have started expansion of a great program called the "El Sistema" project. This project was inspired by an initiative that took place in Venezuela about 30 years ago in order to promote academic achievement and personal growth among students.

Education programs such as "El Sistema" provide young students with great tools such as discipline and work ethic, which are absolutely essential in areas with such a high ratio of underprivileged families. The Stockton Symphony is calling their version of the project, "Harmony Stockton," which will entail musicians visiting local schools to teach students as well as inviting groups such as the Sphinx Virtuosi, who are known to promote diversity in the arts, to perform concerts in Stockton.

This is great video explaining how the program started and how it has influenced many American Symphonies to start their own version of it.

See more information about the Stockton Symphony's education and community involvement programs here.

More on Education and Community Involvement are sure to show up in later posts--

Tell me how your local symphony orchestra has benefitted your community. Or, if you don't have a symphony near you, tell me about a different non-profit's efforts!

-Liz

It Takes Fundraising

2011-10-10T09:16:00.000-07:00

Without fundraising, a symphony has virtually no chance of running its day-to-day operations. A symphony can approach fundraising in a couple of ways; by receiving donations and/or by charging admission for events.

Types and Sources of Fundraising
Symphonies have several different prospects for financial support. The three most common are:

Donations
In-kind contributions
Grants

This funding might come from sources such as:

Government Agencies
Corporations
Foundations
Federated Campaigns
Churches
Local Businesses
Fraternal or social clubs
Individuals

Symphonies can also create revenue by charging a fee for the services they provide, as long as these services are still in line with their public benefit mission.

The symphony should always be aware of the donor's purpose and intended use for the contribution, and the symphony must manage them accordingly. In general, funding is categorized into three types;

General operating funds, which can be spent by the symphony without restrictions
In-Kind contributions, or non-cash assistance is a donation that is not in the form of cash. Some might be donations of facilities, volunteer support, products and services, and technical help
Restricted or program-specific funds might be designated solely for use on a program or activity that is hosted by the symphony

Fundraising at the San Diego Symphony

The San Diego Symphony recently held a somewhat unique fundraiser in order to raise general operating funds. They called it the Opus Centennial Gala; an event in which patrons met the guest artists who performed at the next concert series and joined them for dinner and cocktails. Those who bought tickets to this event were rewarded with VIP seating to the concerts, sponsorship recognition, autographed CD‘s by our artists, and access to this exclusive post-concert reception.

This event allowed their most generous patrons to develop a close relationship with symphony personnel, which would most likely compel them to continue their commitment with them. Whether these patrons are already subscribers or not, they develop a connection with them, and in turn, hopefully make new connections through them.
Fundraisers like this one are not always appropriate for every symphony. Like any business, symphony boards must think about how much people are willing to spend to support the organization. The San Diego Symphony is able to charge well over $200 per ticket for occasions such as this one because they already have a list of reliable donors in their reach. It is often better for smaller and less established organizations to put on less formal fundraising events such as Pops concerts with dinner included at a lower cost.

The San Diego Symphony has been designated a Tier 1 Orchestra, one of the leading orchestras in the United States by the League of American Orchestras. Wouldn't you look to a leader for good fundraising examples? If so, see their web page here!

It Takes Awareness of the Demographic in the Region

2011-10-09T16:49:00.000-07:00

One of the biggest mistakes that a symphony board can make is oversight its area's demographic. Knowing the demographic can help the board plan programs that will foster the interests of the specific minorities that reside in the area.

To help illustrate how vital this is, I will explain the mistake that the formerly known, San Jose Symphony made when it failed to take the demographic into consideration, and in result, failed to make enough ticket sales to survive.

This is a picture of the Imani Quintet, a diverse group of musicians who were recently involved in the Stockton Symphony's Harmony Stockton program to promote diversity in music . This is an example of a program that would appeal more to a diverse demographic.

The San Jose Symphony; Its Background and Demise

The San Jose Symphony was established in 1877 as American Born European musicians were increasing parallel to the rapid increase of European immigration. The market for American classical music was at an all time high at this time, but started decreasing in the late 1900's. The demand for classical groups declined greatly, which caused the San Jose Symphony to struggle with financial and budget controls, as well as consumer preferences and competition in the surrounding Bay Area. According to Wolf and Glaze, authors of And the Band Stopped Playing: The Rise and Fall of the San Jose Symphony, the Symphony also missed good opportunities to reach out to the minority demographic, as well as made poor choices in building a new symphony hall with insufficient and restricted funds.

The San Jose Symphony still could not foresee its termination in their near future even through its long list of bad decisions and circumstances. One of the opportunities that they missed out on was reaching out to the great minority population of the Santa Clara County. Because this population typically is not characterized by the usual concert goer, it takes a bit more effort to attract them to symphony functions.

Some examples of how symphonies in the past have adapted to community diversity are:

The Saint Louis Symphony created the In Unison program in collaboration with black churches in the area and worked with other programs located within Saint Louis
The Long Beach Symphony Orchestra partnered with a Hispanic museum in order to reach out to their large Hispanic population and hired a Mexican music director to be able to communicate effectively with the Spanish-Speaking community
The orchestra in North Carolina changed their outreach program completely to target many different communities of specific cultures

Most all symphonies have now implemented programs to reach out to their communities, proving that it is an absolutely essential in running a functional symphony orchestra.

Evidence for this post was found at And the Band Stopped Playing: The Rise and Fall of the San Jose Symphony by Dr. Thomas Wolf and Nancy Glaze. View the whole document here.

It Takes Planning

2011-10-04T11:11:00.000-07:00

To run a professional symphony orchestra, a strategic plan is absolutely essential in order to operate effectively.

The strategic plan consists of:

a mission statement
a clear establishment of a program direction

The mission statement is a concise declaration of the organization's purpose that it wants to pursue. This statement should address:

Who? - The staff and/or volunteers that deliver the service-outlining any distinctive characteristics
Whom? - The target population served by the organization
What? - A brief description of the services provided by the organization that lead to the change or impact
Where? - The geographic parameters that define the service area
Why? - The purpose or essence of the organization; the change that will occur because of its existence
How? - The method by which the services are delivered

It is important to develop a mission that is attainable, measurable, and realistic. The board should be able to picture how the goal will look once it has been achieved. This mission is not only to guide the organization, but also to demonstrate its stable vision and potential for a promising future in the arts to prospective supporters.

Once the mission statement has been decided on, it is then time to create an outlined plan of how the symphony will achieve the mission. The board decides on specific about the tactics and targets that it will use to measure the success of each goal.

It Takes Understanding of the Non-Profit Organization

2011-09-20T14:05:00.000-07:00

Before jumping into the logistics of how to manage a symphony, we must first identify what kind of organization we are working with.

Professional Symphony Orchestras are most often classified as groups whose purposes are to benefit the public and which are exempt from income tax under Sections 501(c)(3) or 501(c)(4) of the federal Internal Revenue Code.

Some people might interpret the term "nonprofit" incorrectly. A nonprofit organization does not exactly mean that it cannot make a profit. In fact, these organizations must have revenues that surpass expenses in order to survive. It is only called nonprofit because its PURPOSE for operating is not to make profit, but rather to benefit the public, according to federal and state law. For example, educational, scientific, literary, or charitable purposes all benefit the public under federal and state law.

In short, a nonprofit organization is one in which:

its mission is to implement programs whose goal is not primarily to earn a profit
no individual person owns shares of the corporation or interests in its property; and
its property and any income of the corporation are not distributed to any “shareholders,” but instead are recycled into the corporation’s public benefit mission and activities.

To give you a better understanding of the difference between a Nonprofit and a For-Profit organization, here is a table comparing the two.

Now that we are proficient in this area, we'll start learning about what kind of planning is necessary for effective profitability, specifically in this nonprofit environment. Stay tuned for my next post!

-Liz

Welcome to Building Tempo!

2011-09-13T16:46:00.000-07:00

This blog will teach you about what goes into managing a professional symphony orchestra.

As a lover of classical music, I've been interested in owning a symphony orchestra since high school. I am now a Music Management major, studying at the University of the Pacific. Now that I'm a senior, I hope that I've acquired enough information to tell others about the different operations that are necessary to keep a symphony running effectively.

For starters, an symphony's administrative staff consists of various divisions such as:

Executive Director's Committee
Artistic Planning
Education Programs/Youth Orchestra
Development
Volunteer Council
Finance
Information Technology
Human Resources
Marketing, Communications and External Affairs

Marketing and Sales
Public Relations
Publications

Patron Services
General Manager's Division

Electronic Media and Tours
Operations
Retail

Orchestra Personnel
Music/Orchestra Librarian

This is the San Francisco Symphony's exact list of administrative departments. The number and diversity of the departments vary depending on the size and the prestige of the particular symphony orchestra.

Whether you're just interested in knowing how a symphony orchestra works, attending a symphony concert, volunteering for a symphony's administrative board, or you really want to be the executive director of the whole organization, you will find some interesting and compelling information here!