Week 4

This week I updated forms on the electronic database. The Student Advisory Board (an assembly of high school and college students that meet to advise and assist in generation and implementation of new programs at ProMusica, designed to educate the community) officers form and information form needed updated in MS word documents.

I sent a fax to Davis Piano Moving to book the times that the concert grand piano will need to be moved for each performance next season.

I helped Julia create an online survey (survey monkey) about different networking tools (facebook, myspace, twitter, etc.). I emailed the survey to administrators of Columbus area fine arts organizations and am waiting to process and analyze their responses. The survey is intended to see which networking tools different organizations use and how they use them within the organization, whether it be for personal use or to broadcast news to many people. By processing their responses we hope to make a conclusion about the usefulness of the different networking tools that have become available.

I worked in MS excel to make a spreadsheet of all the members and contact information of the Student Advisory Board.

I designed an invitation to be sent out to the Board of Trustees, Musicians, and special guests for ProMusica's End of Season Reception to be held on June 17th.

I sent in the list of world and regional premieres that ProMusica will perform during its 2009-2010 season to the League of American Orchestras for its Symphony survey, where all major orchestras' premieres are listed.

Julia gave me a [grant] project proposal to read from the Greater Columbus Arts Council. The project involves helping Columbus area schools create assessment tools and program requirements for out-of-classroom activities in which high school students may earn credit, also called "credit flexibility". From what I understand, the state mandated that it is possible for students to receive credit for activities in which they are assessed outside of the classroom, but individual school districts are responsible for coming up with specific programs and criteria in which to evaluate those programs. The proposal was fairly vague and GCAC is basically saying that it (and other arts organizations around Columbus) wants to help schools/administrators develop assessment procedures, generate and implement programs that align with the assessment procedures, and make these programs accessible to all students in the Columbus area. I am curious to see what kinds of actual programs they will come up with and how students will be asked to prove their competency in a subject.

Week 3

This week at ProMusica I helped put together a mass mailing. I also continued to research strategic planning. I looked for strategic planning templates and how to go about generating and implementing new programs.

What is ProMusica?

This chamber orchestra is made up of part-time local and national musicians who perform throughout the year in different venues around Columbus, Ohio. ProMusica Chamber Orchestra performs at the Southern Theatre and the Josephinum, and the orchestra performs family concerts at the Columbus Museum of Art. In addition to serving the community of Columbus, ProMusica is dedicated to the education of students. The ensemble hosts a side-by-side Handel's Messiah sing along each December incorporating high school string students and area school, community and church choral ensembles. ProMusica musicians also visit Columbus area schools to give master classes as part of the Musicians in the Schools Program. ProMusica strives to create a partnership with audiences with the intention of understanding and fulfilling audience needs through a variety of musical performances and educational experiences.

Week 2

On Monday, May 18, I began to do internet research different education and outreach programs put on by orchestras across the country (mostly the Midwest). My assignment was to research mission statements about different orchestras' implementation of education programs and then find goals or list reasons about how those orchestras go about reaching that mission. When doing this research I was able to consider how ProMusica targets students of varying ages compared to other orchestras. It was interesting to note which orchestras intentionally target certain audiences and how they aim to do that in their mission statements solely about community and outreach, versus orchestras that do not address education or outreach at all and simply maintain a performance season in contingency with the director's wishes (these orchestras obviously did not make my list). In my research I found that the majority of orchestras target students of all ages through in-school performances/events--especially elementary through high school aged--and many orchestras seek to reach adults and entire families. I also attended a staff meeting late in the afternoon. Janet Chen, Executive Director, led the meeting. Several topics were discussed including a wrap-up of the Gala event (concert, wine tasting, and silent auction on May 8), a wrap-up of Youth and Family Day (concert at the Columbus Zoo on May 10), new subscriptions and subscription renewals, and the format of the end of the year reports that are due at the annual staff meeting in mid-June.

Everyone was in the office on Wednesday, May 20, including another intern, so I organized the supply room. This must be a job that most people don't like doing on a typical day, but I don't mind organizing every once in a while! Hopefully all the envelopes, notepads, and coffee filters can be found in their proper places now :) I also took inventory of supplies that needed re-stocked, such as paper clips!

Friday was a slower day at the office. We were all looking forward to getting out of the office since it was a gorgeous day outside! Julia wanted me to compile my research so she would be able to present it to the education committee later in June. I compiled my findings about each orchestra into one or two sentences summarizing what each orchestra seeks to accomplish through education and outreach.

Week 1

May 12, 2009
First day!! Today I worked out my internship schedule for the rest of the summer with Julia Hare, the Educations and Operations Director, and I met Timothy Russell, the music director of ProMusica Chamber Orchestra. I worked on getting Save the Date messages out to all the local Columbus schools, informing them of this years' Messiah Sing Along with the Orchestra which happens in December 2009. I updated the Save the Date flier on the computer, printed it out, made copies, and stuffed them into envelopes. I scanned concert programs from the Cosmos Trio Performance at the Columbus Art Museum on May 9, 2009 into the electronic database. Julia showed me how to send a fax, and I also helped move some boxes and old concert programs into archives.

May 13, 2009
Today I worked in MS Excel to merge the list of Band/Orchestra Directors and Choir Directors from Columbus schools that participated in the Messiah Sing Along in December 2008. I used Data Merge Manager to create labels in order to send out the Save the Date fliers I had worked on the day before. I also updated the Student Advisory Board (SAB) roster on ProMusica's server. The Student Advisory Board is a group of high school and college students that brings new project ideas to the Board of Trustees. The SAB helps to promote the different educational and artistic programs that ProMusica has to offer.

May 14, 2009
I sorted through many newspaper archives today, hoping to find articles and advertisements about ProMusica. I helped Julia categorize her Operations binder. In the binder were many confirmation emails about rehearsal times and arrivals for the musicians, hotel confirmations, and itineraries for guest artists, such as Mark O'Connor.