from Peachtree Street ...

Once again, I type how hard it is to believe how fast time is passing this year. Today marks the four week completion mark for how long I have been with the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra. In short, here's what I have done / will be doing during my tenure here:

• Touring: My first weekend with the ASO was spent in NYC, as the ASO and ASO Chorus performed Verdi's Requiem in Carnegie Hall to rave reviews; my second weekend with this group was spent in Savannah, GA - the ASO had their debut performance in Savannah at the Savannah Music Festival; just following the Conference in LA, I'll go on the tour to the Ojai Music Festival in CA, and directly after this trip will make the quick trip to Chicago for the performance at Ravinia. Not only have I been immersed with great music and been able to get to know the musicians of the ASO on all of these tours, I have been learning (and will continue to learn through these next few tours) the operations side of touring from John Sparrow (GM) and David Daly (Operations Manager).
• CBA: I'll be working with John and David to prepare for the upcoming contract negotiations of the ASO. A part of this project is to collaborate with American Symphony Orchestra League Conducting Fellow Laura Jackson to fully understand the current CBA, analyize it, question it, and come to a consensus about what we like and/or what we would like to change/implement differently when we both move on to our respective organizations.
• Development: Working with Paul Hogle (VP, Development) and his crew, I'm learning about the development operations of the ASO - both their Annual Fund campaign and the Symphony Center campaign (for the new ASO Symphony Center). Additionally, we are brainstorming new ideas for measuring the successes and achievements of the development officers through redefining the tools of measurement. Lastly, I'll be an observer for the League's OLA Fundraising Seminar next weekend. All of this combined should take me from the basic Development 101 learning through understanding the immense ASO Development operations.
• Strategic Planning: This will be the bulk of my work, which entails: (1) facilitating senior staff meetings and a senior staff retreat on the evaluation of the 1998 Long Range Plan; (2) working with each senior staff member and with Allison Vulgamore to create and write an executive summary of the 2005-2006 season's real-time history and accomplishments; and (3) (combined with no. 1) facilitating senior staff meetings and their retreat to create a 3-5 year ASO operational document, including fiscal responsibilities. Fascinating work - both looking at the history and looking towards the future, and what changes and growth is possible.

Besides attending the ASO concerts and the work outlined the above, I look forward to connecting with a few friends of mine that now live in Atlanta, seeing the sights around town including the new Aquarium and the High Museum of Art, and hopefully seeing a few more sightings of Atlanta's own Baton Bob! (stay tuned for this explanation). :-) Until next time - that's the news from Peachtree Street.

♪♪♪ On the road again... ♪♪♪

How time flies when you're having fun! My tenure with the South Dakota Symphony Orchestra sadly comes to an end tomorrow, yet the memories and relationships I have made here will continue for years to come. When I found out that I would be working with the SDSO, I honestly had no idea what to expect - all of my previous experience was solely with larger-budget organizations. I was forewarned - pack warm clothes! Luckily, the weather was beautiful - in the 40's and 50's most of the time (except for that one extended weekend when it was an average of -25, not including the windchill). Weather aside, my time here has been wonderful.

There are four full-time employees on staff (Tom Bennett, ED; Linda Clement, Director of Development; Becky Simonz, Operations and Touring Manager; and Rebecca Breitag, Marketing Manager), and nine full-time musicians (one string quartet and one wind quintet) in the orchestra. The Music Director, Delta David Gier, is in his second season with the orchestra; he takes on the responsibilities of conducting and being a recognizable presence in the community.

From the comments I made in my last blog, I can still say that the connection this orchestra has with its community is absolutely outstanding. Tom has built a great organization in Sioux Falls during his 9-10 year tenure, and I have experienced first-hand the results of his time, patience, and dedication to the SDSO. The board members that he has recruited are fabulous - I can only hope that my board will willingly take such responsibility for the success of their orchestra!

My experiences here can be narrowed down to 4 categories: board, development, finance, and marketing. Not only did I have projects in each of these areas, but each category culminated in reports and presentations to their respective board committees, and included the executive committee and full board. Additionally, Tom asked that I make the stage announcements for three of the concerts, thanking the donors/concert sponsors from the stage. Lastly, I had the opportunity to attend weekly Toastmasters meetings with Becky (Thursday's at 6:30AM!) - a great way to develop confidence in your speaking and presentation skills. The impact of the experiences Tom provided me with are just now starting to fully sink in, especially as I review and evaluate this entire experience.

Alas, our final move to our last assignment is this weekend (some of us are getting a head start on Friday!). It is truly hard to believe how fast this year is progressing - and how little time we have left in this program! For all of those in the final interview weekend (next weekend, I believe), best of luck to each and every one of you. It was only just a year ago that the five of us arrived in New York City, not knowing what was to come in this year. This has truly been an adventure for each of us ... truly an experience that will last a lifetime.

Until my next post from Atlanta, here are links to our last orchestra assignments.

Lisa Dixon: The Boston Symphony
Marc Feldman: The Pittsburgh Symphony
Rachel Hermanson: The Atlanta Symphony
Vanessa Rose: The San Francisco Symphony
Mi Ryung Song: The Cleveland Orchestra