DOM Success!

see previous blog “Project DOM” for background on this blog

I am happy to report that the first annual Aspen Music Festival & School’s “Day of Music,” affectionately known as Project DOM has officially been labeled a success! With under a week of advertising for our activities on the ill-frequently visited school’s campus, over 162 visitors showed up by the bus-full for morning activities that included opera scenes, string quartet performances, open classes, and coaching sessions. Later that afternoon, at our main concert performance site known as the Meadows (it actually houses 3 venues), well over 1000 community members showed up for vocal master classes, brass and string chamber music, a family concert, music student petting zoo (ha), wind ensemble concert, and a free dinner sponsored by Alpine Bank.

Throughout the day, our volunteers, known as the AMFS Ambassadors, filled out survey forms as they received comments from the public. The only complaint that I have heard so far was that we needed more chairs because so many people showed up!

In the end, a tremendously positive response came from the public, administration, students, and faculty alike. So much so, that the date for the second annual DOM has already been set. Now I need to follow through and archive the materials that built DOM, get more feedback from involved parties, make suggestions, and pass this treasure to next year’s coordinator (most likely an 06’ League Management Fellow). Currently I am filled with excitement for what this annual tradition can become. Next year and in the years to come, armed with more than three weeks to work on the project and archived materials, the sky is the limit for future Project DOMs!

Just another one of those days in Aspen

Today was an interesting day. From 9:30-noon I managed the Festival Orchestra dress rehearsal as usual with John Williams conducting and Gil Shaham on violin. Gil played on two works composed by John himself: TreeSong and his Violin Concerto. These two pieces were prefaced by another “Williams” tune (Ralph Vaughan Williams that is) Overture from The Wasps and complemented by the finale, Three Excerpts from Holst’s The Planets. After the break today, we discovered a bit of a mistake in the program order and decided to swap TreeSong and the Violin Concerto. It sounds like an easy move but since TreeSong had already been rehearsed, certain musicians had already left and I needed to track them down. Additionally, we had to pin down the president of the Festival, Don Roth, to make the announcement to the audience (not really necessary, but he likes to do this kind of thing).

Well, on to the semi-exciting part. After rehearsal, a guest and myself went into town to grab some lunch. Eventually we decided on a diner in town called Boogie’s which tries really really hard to be a “classic” working man’s diner despite the fact that it is smack dab in the middle of one of the richest towns in the world. Throughout the meal, we were joking about the guys wandering around in suits and how they were secret service men. It turns out that the joke was on us. Just as I was finishing off my fried chicken and mashed potatoes, BAM there’s Bill Clinton standing about 20 feet away taking pictures with tourists. I realize that it really isn’t that big of a deal but honestly, it was pretty exciting coupled with the fact that I saw Harvey Keitel at Starbucks yesterday and just finished working with John Williams, Gil Shaham, James DePreist, Joshua Bell, Robert Spano, and David Zinman. So that was my Sunday…so far. I keep on telling myself to bring a camera wherever I go and get signatures. Maybe next week.

Project DOM

Come one, come all to the first annual Day of Music presented by the Aspen Music Festival & School. Day of Music or “Project DOM” as I call it is my first real time super time consuming extra project of the summer (July 4th Band was extra but not nearly as complex as DOM). Basically here’s the breakdown. About 3 weeks ago, I caught wind of this assignment during a meeting. The powers that be said…

“Maestro Zinman came up with this idea to feature the actual school side of the Festival. Basically, we want to open up our campus to the public all morning and invite them to hear performances, master classes, and coaching sessions featuring the students…not just another big name soloist or conductor. Then, in the afternoon, we want to continue with these student performances down at our main performance venue and highlight the evening with a big Family Concert and Wind Ensemble Concert. On top of it all, we want to make it all free of charge to the public. Good? Great. Ok Jeff, you have three weeks to book the performance spaces, find student groups to play (despite conflicts with three major orchestras in the morning), come up with a program, market it to the public, make signs, make flyers, make handouts, get volunteers to help, draw stage plots, get the audio crew to man microphones, get house management staff to usher, arrange transportation for the public, and be on call the whole day. Oh and by the way, we don’t have any budget allocated for this.”

Needless to say, this has been a whale of a project. Fortunately, I have had plenty of help from our scheduling coordinator (thank you Elizabeth) and with just under a week to go, I am beginning to feel pretty good about it. Honestly, it has been pretty exciting to know that this project could very well kick off a solid annual tradition that bridges a major gap between the community and the School. I guess that throughout the year, I will have the opportunity to contribute to some pretty lasting pillars of each organization I visit. Pretty
exciting huh?

Check out the schedule for the first annual AMFS Day of Music (in .pdf format). front/back

July 4th weekend, Aspen style

This past Sunday, as we all know, was July 4th. What did this mean for me? July 4th was an insanely busy but fun day in Jeff Land. Not only did I have my Festival Orchestra open dress rehearsal in the morning from 9:30-noon followed by the concert at 4pm but I also managed an annual tradition at the festival, the July 4th Band conducted by Boston maestro Larry Isaacson.

The AFO concert was conducted by Robert Spano of the Atlanta Symphony with cello soloist Claudio Bohorquez. We performed Ives’s The Fourth of July, Bernstein’s Three Meditations, from Mass, and Copland’s Symphony No. 3. The Band concert was a slam bang loud solid 45 minutes of standard band works highlighted by three female trumpet soloists playing Bugler’s Holiday.

After the double duty of concerts came to an end, I met up with my fellow staffers as well as several musicians to watch fireworks set off in front of Aspen Mountain. Then, Kevin (fellow Fellow), Beth (fellow manager), Gene (conducting student), and I piled in my car and braved the post firework streets of downtown Aspen. I grabbed a slice of pizza at New York Pizza, a scoop of Black Diamond Cookies & Cream at Paradise Bakery, and a Passion Fruit Mojito at La Cocina’s bar (a triple play of healthy foods…ha ha).

The next morning, on Monday, the four of us all had some long awaited time off and decided to drive up to Independence Pass (appropriate for the holiday) and hike a trail known as the Continental Divide. This totally unbelievable trail, all above the tree line, yielded some incredible views as we made our way to a peak known only as “peak 13,045.” (Check back sometime for pictures after I get the photo gallery portion of my site running.) On our way back, we checked out a ghost mining town and stopped by the grocery store to get supplies for a BBQ later that afternoon. So concluded the festivities of July 4th weekend.

Star Power!

So today, as was the case for the past two Thursdays and as will be the case until the end of August, Festival Orchestra (AFO) started rehearsals for this Sunday’s concert. AFO’s concert this week which includes works by Janácek, Nielsen, and Brahms will be conducted by the ever acclaimed but humble and super nice conductor James DePreist with violin soloist Joshua Bell, both of whom I had the chance to meet and work with today. Just an hour before our rehearsal began, another orchestra, the Chamber Symphony (ACS), aka Edgar’s orchestra, was finishing up their second to last rehearsal before their regular Friday night performance. Backstage, after the ACS rehearsal, I had the opportunity to meet Sarah Chang, their violin soloist for this week’s concert. That’s three, yup three big stars in the symphony world in one day, two of whom I am lucky enough to work closely with over the next few days. All in a day’s work eh? Next week AFO, John Williams conducts with Gil Shaham on violin.

So what does an orchestra manager do?

I have been asked this question countless times from people both inside and outside of the festival. What do I do? Well…I manage an orchestra naturally. Sound simple? Few people realize what actually goes into this seemingly self explanatory job title.

Before I begin, I must differentiate between orchestra management on a macro and micro scale. On a larger macro scale, the term orchestra management refers to everything that goes on behind the scenes not just to produce concerts, but to sustain an orchestra as a relevant and positively contributing force in the community. This use of this term encompasses all aspects of the biz from the logistics of performing a concert (operations) to educational initiatives to advertisement, financial governance, and beyond. As you already know, developing as an “orchestra manager” through the Fellowship is an attempt to cover all of this ground.

My specific job as manager of the Aspen Festival Orchestra, however, falls into only one of these sub categories despite its shared name with the macro term. Micro orchestra management, sometimes known as personnel management, falls under the umbrella of the operations department and primarily deals with the logistics of overseeing rehearsals, performances, and their preparation. As the AFO manager, I help or have helped…

• Organize and set up auditions between faculty members and students
• Compile and distribute weekly personnel rosters specific to instrument and musical work
• Draw stage plots that the stage crew uses to set up every chair, stand, etc.
• Coordinate with the orchestra librarian to get each student their music
• Act as an on-site contact with conductors and guest artists in regards to rehearsals/performances
• Handle a variety of personnel issues such as attendance, rotations, and bitter rivalries (just kidding…mostly)
• Make daily announcements to the musicians
• Address the audience during open dress rehearsals
• Act as an immediate contact between administration and the musicians

These several responsibilities are always in a state of flux with factors changing here and there on almost an hourly basis (not an exaggeration). A good sane and flexible head on your shoulders as well as an incredible knack for organization are pretty much the two biggest ingredients for success as an orchestra manager. For the AFO, most of this work rolls over on a weekly basis with rehearsals consistently occurring each week from Thursday to Sunday with a concert each Sunday afternoon.

So there you have it, the job of the Aspen Festival Orchestra manager in a nutshell. As of now, I’m starting to get a feel for this weekly gambit and with repetition comes refinement which leads to some free time to take on extra projects in a variety of other departments of the Festival.