Back in Baltimore and Hard at Work
May 16, 2008 - Well I arrived back in Baltimore on Monday night, and was immediately plunged back into a whirlwind of activity. Donor acknowledgment letters, subscription orders, last minute details for OV11 (you can still get a ticket for this event if you call 410.547.7997 today), final proofing of the 2008-2009 season brochure, as well as an "organ emergency" at Emmanuel Church brought on by an overzealous and not too bright electrical contractor have all been vying for my attention. I've also been engaged in lining up promotional materials both for OV and myself to take to the National Performing Arts Convention in Denver (June 10-14), finalizing plans for a brief visit to Opera Theatre of St. Louis and trying to finagle a 10th anniversary trip to Italy with my partner which will take us to the Italian home of our friend David Walker (who is indeed an angel).
All this flurry of activity has made me think about how often the life of the performing artist is different than those involved in a more 9 to 5 kind of profession. In general, many people are currently engaged in "winding down" for the summer: making vacation plans, thinking about hobbies they want to get back to during the "lazy, hazy, crazy days of summer", etc. But many of us involved in the arts are gearing up, taking advantage of longer days to make preparations for next season, or the next big round of auditions, or even participating in summer training programs, festivals, and institutes. So I'm going to take a break from promotional posts for awhile and talk about the various and sundry activities surrounding the running of an opera company during "summer hiatus", a misnomer if there ever was one.
This change has also been provoked by some conversations that I've had recently with fellow bloggers and blog-readers. It seems that the promotional posts don't invite dialogue as much as I would like so I'm hoping that the new focus will once again provoke comments, thoughts, and questions from my readers. After all, you all now have more "down time", right? Just kidding.
See you at an opera. - John Bowen
All this flurry of activity has made me think about how often the life of the performing artist is different than those involved in a more 9 to 5 kind of profession. In general, many people are currently engaged in "winding down" for the summer: making vacation plans, thinking about hobbies they want to get back to during the "lazy, hazy, crazy days of summer", etc. But many of us involved in the arts are gearing up, taking advantage of longer days to make preparations for next season, or the next big round of auditions, or even participating in summer training programs, festivals, and institutes. So I'm going to take a break from promotional posts for awhile and talk about the various and sundry activities surrounding the running of an opera company during "summer hiatus", a misnomer if there ever was one.
This change has also been provoked by some conversations that I've had recently with fellow bloggers and blog-readers. It seems that the promotional posts don't invite dialogue as much as I would like so I'm hoping that the new focus will once again provoke comments, thoughts, and questions from my readers. After all, you all now have more "down time", right? Just kidding.
See you at an opera. - John Bowen
Labels: operations, planning
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