Admin CO

Alan Fletcher

President and CEO
Aspen Music Festival and School
Aspen, Colorado
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Years in current position: 3
Years in the field: 30

Majors:
Music Composition

Additional Training:
Harvard Institute for Educational Management

Career Path:
Dean, Provost, Head of School of Music

What are the most surprising, interesting or challenging aspects of your day-to-day work?
Board relations

What inspired you to work for in the orchestra field?
Excellent opportunity, service to music

What was the first step in your professional career?
Took a teaching job.

What advice would you offer to someone considering the orchestra field?
People skills more important than anything.    

Nathan Newbrough

Executive Director
Colorado Springs Philharmonic
Colorado Springs, Colorado
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Time in current position: less than 1 year
Years in the field: 10

Majors:
Bachelors Degrees: Instrumental Music Education, Music Business

Additional Training:
League seminars
Association of Fundraising Professionals seminars

Career Path:
Professional Services Coordinator, League of American Orchestras 
Manager of Artistic Services, League of American Orchestras 
Executive Director, Orchestra of the Southern Finger Lakes 
Executive Director, Amarillo Symphony 

What are the most surprising, interesting or challenging aspects of your day-to-day work?
Surprising challenge: After moving to this mid-level orchestra, I’m shocked by lack of sophisticated systems and administrative capacity needed to support such a large budget.

What inspired you to work for an orchestra?
Love for the music, working with musicians. Stayed in the industry because I’ve come to appreciate the complexity of the organizations.

What advice would you offer to someone considering the orchestra field?
Get a mentor and nurture that relationship. There are a lot of quality managers willing to help.

Any other advice?
Attitude is everything. Don’t go into orchestra management if you’d really rather be on stage. This profession needs talented people who feel called to manage. Moreover, you can do it!
 

Michael Schwerin

Executive Director
Grand Junction Symphony Orchestra
Grand Junction, Colorado
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Time in current position: 3 months
Years in the field: 2.5

Majors:
Bachelor’s Degrees in Mathematics and Music-Trumpet Performance
Master's Degree in Music Theory, with a secondary area of emphasis in Music Education

Additional Training:
Eight years of direct sales and business management experience that has been a tremendous help
Essentials of Orchestra Management, League of American Orchestras
Priddy Fellowship for Arts Leadership, University of North Texas

Career Path:
I was an administrative intern for the Greater Denton Arts Council for six months, and then was Marketing Director for the Waterbury (CT) Symphony Orchestra for two years before coming to Grand Junction

What are the most surprising, interesting or challenging aspects of your day-to-day work?
This job requires me to be able to manage my time wisely, and multitask at all times (I almost always have multiple projects going at once). No two days are the same, and there always seems to be some unexpected task that appears each week or month.

What inspired you to work for an orchestra?
This career allowed me to take my experience in business and sales and use it in the music field, something I have always had a fondness for. I also feel that this career is a great way for me to give back—my way to make the lifestyle of the community a little better.

What was your first step toward an orchestra career?
The first step I took was applying for the Essentials of Orchestra Management class, which gave me the opportunity to have a informational interview with Fred Bronstein, who was President of the Dallas Symphony at the time. This was a great chance for me to learn about the field, to be able to gain some valuable insights into what orchestra management is all about.

What advice would you offer to someone considering the orchestra field?
I would highly recommend that you talk to professionals in the field. If that is not possible, just speak with other non-profit professionals. It is a different atmosphere than corporate America, which is the part of the fun of the job.

Any other advice?
This is a very rewarding career, and I truly love my job each and every day. The pay may not always match what you can get in the for-profit world (an important thing to realize when you start in this field), but it is definitely more rewarding.