Comm profiles NY

Amy Blum

Director of Public Relations
Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra
Rochester, New York
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Years in current position: 2
Years in the field: 23

Majors:
Music

Additional Training:
Courses in PR and in graphic design

Career Path:
I ran my own arts publicity business for more than 20 years.

What are the most surprising, interesting or challenging aspects of your day-to-day work?
Interesting: all the new social networking PR possibilities. Challenging: keeping up with publicizing all the RPO events and news.

What inspired you to work for an orchestra?
I was familiar with the RPO from my many years in Rochester, plus I knew that artistically, the orchestra was at a very high level.

Would you do anything differently?
I believe that having a music background in orchestra PR is extremely important, so I still would come to this career from music first.

What advice would you offer to someone considering the orchestra field?
One can learn about the symphony orchestra business from all the many constituents, and it’s important to listen to all of them! Including the musicians!!

Any other advice?
One can never over-communicate!

Katherine E. Johnson

Associate Director of Public Relations
New York Philharmonic
New York, New York
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Time in current position: 8 months
Years in the field: 6

Majors:
Sociology and Spanish

Career Path:
Account Executive, Ruder Finn (healthcare)
Senior Account Executive, Burson Marsteller (healthcare)
Publicist, Shuman Associates 
Publicity Manager, Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts, Inc.