Road Trip!

For those of you out there who may have been checking in on me these first few days of blogging, you will no doubt notice a drastic stylistic change with today's post. I have officially conceded, for the time being, development of my blog through WordPress. The initial appeal of using the more detailed WP to flex my HTML, PHP, SQL, and CSS muscles has faded as I begin to focus more and more on preparations for the Fellowship. As a result, I have moved over to the user-friendly and convenient Blogger engine (a division of Google) for an indefinite period of time.

Well this is it...I'm on my way to Aspen! The car is pretty much packed and come tomorrow, I will begin my approx. 1,200 mile, 20 hour drive out to the beautiful Rockies. This trip, being divided over three days, will begin with a full day or eight hours of driving from the Western suburbs to just past Lincoln, Nebraska where I will spend the night in a budget motel. Then on the morning of the 31st, I will make my way over to Colorado Springs and spend the night with college buddy, Joe Wilhelmi and his wife Cheryl. Finally, I will drive NW for four hours and make my way to Aspen on a road that I am told it supposed to yield amazing views.

This is by far the longest distance I have ever driven solo and as a result, I have taken extra precautionary measures in compiling a killer soundtrack for the drive. Ladies and gents, I present to you the "Jeff Tsai Drivin' to Aspen Extended Dance Party Mix"

• Chopin: 24 Preludes and 4 Ballades, Freire and Entremont on Piano
• Rachmaninov: Symphony No.2, Previn with the London Symphony Orchestra
• Strauss: Dan Juan and Tchaikovsky: Symphony No.6, Tchivzhel with the Fort Wayne Philharmonic
• MacDowell: Piano Concertos Nos. 1 and 2, Fagen with the National Symphony Orchestra
• Dvorak: Requiem, Op.89, Ancerl with the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra
• Beethoven: 9 Symphonies (5 CD complete set), Toscanini with the NBC Symphony
• Mahler: Symphony No.5, Solti with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra
• Orff: Carmina Burana, Blomstedt with the San Francisco Symphony
• Stravinsky: Rite of Spring, Debussy: La Mer, Boulez: Notations VII, Barenboim with Chicago
• John Coltrane: Giant Steps
• Miles Davis: Birth of the Cool
• Dominic Spera Big Band: Big Band Jazz
• Louie Armstrong & Duke Ellington: The Great Summit|The Master Takes
• Bela Fleck and the Flecktones: Greatest Hits of the 20th Century
• Soundtrack to What Women Want
• Norah Jones: Come Away With Me
• Original Broadcast of the War of the Worlds with Orson Wells
• 20 Old Time Classic Episodes of The Shadow
• Jim Collins: Good to Great book on CD

That just about sums things up for now. See you in a few days...

Composition of a year

Two days to go before I pack my life into a Camry and make the 20+ hour trek from Chicago to Aspen. Currently I am halfway packed and droopy eyed but filled with blog ideas for upcoming posts. For now however, I would like to simply lay down some more groundwork and present my path for the next year.

As I mentioned above, I will be kicking the year off in Aspen, CO (quote count from the film Dumb and Dumber is well into triple digits). From June 3 to August 26, my primary responsibility will be managing the Aspen Festival Orchestra, one of several pre-professional orchestras under the umbrella of the Aspen Music Festival and School.

During the beginning of June, my two colleagues and I will take a brief hiatus to Pittsburgh and attend the League's
National Conference.

Then from the beginning of September to the end of December, my first host orchestra assignment will be with the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra under the direction of their executive director Ruth Eliel.

Following a weeklong Christmas vacation, I will reunite with the other Fellows in New York, NY for a two-week meet and greet with leaders in the music industry coupled with participation in several sessions of the League's Essentials of Orchestra Management seminar.

From here, the next approximate seven weeks will be spent with executive director Ryan Fleur at the Memphis Symphony Orchestra.

The conclusion of my tenure in Memphis will bring about my third and final residency with the Pittsburgh Symphony. During this 14-week time period from early March to early June, Larry Tamburri will be my mentor.

Finally, the 04-05 Fellows will have the opportunity to meet and pass the baton to the following year’s class in Washington DC at the League's 60th National Conference from June 11-18.

So much to look forward to yet so much to pack. For now, I think I will get some shuteye.

Every story has a beginning...

Hello and welcome to tsailog.com where, for the next year, I will be blogging on my life and times as an American Symphony Orchestra League Orchestra Management Fellow (OMF). If any of the previous terms do not ring a bell, check out the provided links or my "About" pages (soon to be added) to learn more about the Fellowship and myself.

Before I dig into the real meat and potatoes, I want to clearly communicate what this site is all about. Know right off the bat that I intend to be as honest as possible in giving you an untainted window into my life as an OMF. My purpose is to educate and inform interested parities about this upcoming, extremely intense year. It is my hope, whether you are a colleague, aspiring arts manager, musician, friend, or fellow music lover, that this blog can shed some light into the mysteries of the OFM, the League, and the behind the scenes world of orchestra management.

Over the next year, as I jump-start my career as an orchestra manager, receiving helpful and sometimes critical feedback will greatly shape my management philosophies for countless years to come. Keeping this in mind, always (and I do mean always) feel free to e-mail me with your thoughts and comments. I will value them highly and promise to respond in prompt fashion.

And now... on with the posts!