Considering the Fellowship? (part 3: the early days)
Read other parts of this series 1 | 2| 3 | 4 | 5
A love for music lives at the core of many of my life decisions. When I was considering what to study in college, I knew that music had to be a significant component. I also knew two other things: professional performance was NOT my forte and I wanted to explore the world of management/business (in some ways, I was a leader of the band nerds back in high school). So I decided to compromise and pursue a degree in music business. I had no clue what “music business” truly meant but hey, I was following my passion.
The summer after my freshman year, I took on a seasonal summer job with the Chicago Symphony calling patrons that had not yet renewed their subscriptions. This job, one step up from cold call telemarketing, was less than glamorous but I got my first look into the world of arts management, and it was good. Now that I had whet my palette, it was time to seriously consider orchestra management as a career.
Over the next few summers, I spent many hours as a marketing and public relations intern with both the Ravinia Festival and Chicago Symphony. Plus, I worked with the board and general manager of the local Marion Philharmonic during the school year. Through these experiences, I learned one crucial fact. This is what I wanted to dedicate the rest of my professional life to.
My goal was (and still is) simple. I believed that my love for music, accompanied by proper training and lots of hard work, could positively impact the arts world over the course of a lifelong career. I wanted to maximize this impact but didn’t really know what tools were available. Then I heard about the League.
My introduction to the League occurred when Anna Ross, Director of Education and Operations at the Fort Wayne Philharmonic appeared as a guest speaker in my music business class sophomore year. Mostly, she spoke about the organizational structure most orchestras follow but towards the end of her presentation, she briefly mentioned the League as a source of more information. A few months later, my interest was further sparked when I spontaneously met someone who had been a Fellowship finalist back in the 90’s. He told me all about the program as well as the League’s career website.
With about two years left before graduation (I added a minor and went 5 years), I signed up for a student professional membership with the League which gave me access to their career website, careers.symphony.org. Then, I began to develop a three-pronged approach to starting my career.
I’ll pick up here next blog…
Read other parts of this series 1 | 2| 3 | 4 | 5
A love for music lives at the core of many of my life decisions. When I was considering what to study in college, I knew that music had to be a significant component. I also knew two other things: professional performance was NOT my forte and I wanted to explore the world of management/business (in some ways, I was a leader of the band nerds back in high school). So I decided to compromise and pursue a degree in music business. I had no clue what “music business” truly meant but hey, I was following my passion.
The summer after my freshman year, I took on a seasonal summer job with the Chicago Symphony calling patrons that had not yet renewed their subscriptions. This job, one step up from cold call telemarketing, was less than glamorous but I got my first look into the world of arts management, and it was good. Now that I had whet my palette, it was time to seriously consider orchestra management as a career.
Over the next few summers, I spent many hours as a marketing and public relations intern with both the Ravinia Festival and Chicago Symphony. Plus, I worked with the board and general manager of the local Marion Philharmonic during the school year. Through these experiences, I learned one crucial fact. This is what I wanted to dedicate the rest of my professional life to.
My goal was (and still is) simple. I believed that my love for music, accompanied by proper training and lots of hard work, could positively impact the arts world over the course of a lifelong career. I wanted to maximize this impact but didn’t really know what tools were available. Then I heard about the League.
My introduction to the League occurred when Anna Ross, Director of Education and Operations at the Fort Wayne Philharmonic appeared as a guest speaker in my music business class sophomore year. Mostly, she spoke about the organizational structure most orchestras follow but towards the end of her presentation, she briefly mentioned the League as a source of more information. A few months later, my interest was further sparked when I spontaneously met someone who had been a Fellowship finalist back in the 90’s. He told me all about the program as well as the League’s career website.
With about two years left before graduation (I added a minor and went 5 years), I signed up for a student professional membership with the League which gave me access to their career website, careers.symphony.org. Then, I began to develop a three-pronged approach to starting my career.
I’ll pick up here next blog…
Read other parts of this series 1 | 2| 3 | 4 | 5
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