Sandi Sigurdson: Two things come to mind. Friday night rehearsals in the hall at the Performing Arts Center, before the Saturday afternoon dress rehearsal and evening concert. [Until concert week, the orchestra usually rehearses in the PAC Pavilion, a large room, not in Harmon Hall.] Friday rehearsal was like a little sneak preview, a chance to hear the orchestra just before they’re ready to launch into the Saturday public performances. It was always fascinating to observe the process of putting the final touches on the music. It was such a privilege to be one of about three people in the hall for that. That’s a part of the job I never took for granted, that I got to be one of those lucky people. Also, all Youth Symphony concerts. I loved every single one.
DH: I went to one last year, and it was really inspiring. The kids were so full of life and the joy of making music, you couldn’t help but enjoy it.
SS: And the focus! They are so focused on the music! From a marketing point of view it’s hard to photograph the Youth Symphony kids while they’re playing because they all have such intense looks on their faces, not happy and smiling like people expect to see kids.
DH: On the flip side, what was your least favorite part of the job?
SS: I’d have to say that by the end I was tired of putting on parties. In the last few years I let the rest of the staff take the lead on those. Parties are just very time-consuming to organize, with so many details: what caterer to use, what color tablecloths to have… but they are SO important. Here’s the thing, parties, receptions: these are chances for the audience to socialize with Mike and the musicians, and those opportunities are what build relationships or deepen them. Those relationships can make the difference between someone just applauding the orchestra’s performance versus volunteering their time or donating money. At the Symphony Ball we started the “Parties with a Purpose” series to, of course, raise money but truly to give the audience and musicians more chances to get to know each other.
DH: I hear the Marine Mammal Center in Morro Bay is starting a similar series: “Parties with a Porpoise.”
SS: (Groans.)
DH: Tell me about the Association of California Symphony Orchestras (ACSO) and your work with them.
SS: My predecessor, Cricket Handler, established the relationship with ACSO and our involvement grew from there. In the early days I went alone to one ACSO workshop or conference per year. Then the SLO Symphony board made a commitment to the organization’s professional development, so a culture of on-going training and peer networking flourished. There was a commitment for the staff, the board, Mike and musicians to get involved. ACSO workshops and round tables gave us each a chance to talk to our peers about doing our respective jobs and to learn from their experience.
Say I’m in the middle of a problem with finance, marketing, whatever. Instead of wrestling inside my own feeble head I’m talking to other ED’s I may get ideas about how to solve those problems. More importantly, getting involved in ACSO taught us that we really need-to know who we are and what our role is in the community. Think about that: all decisions, whether about Youth Symphony, finances, touring, etc. flow from knowing who we are and what our role is. Mission, vision, values. Mike has really led in these areas. Especially after 9/11 he had a strong sense of how our orchestra could help the community heal. That purpose hadn’t been part of our mission to such an extent before 9/11, and now we have a greater sense of our particular contribution to the community.
DH: I remember when I interviewed Mike a few years ago he spoke about concerts as offering people a break from all the stresses of life and a chance to recharge spiritually.
SS: That’s so true. In my job I wasn’t making music, but my role was to put the foundation in place so the creative people, the musicians, could have the freedom to do their work and perform that service. There are so many elements that have to be in place for an arts organization to thrive: legal transparency, policy, procedures, finance. I learned a lot from participating in ACSO roundtables with EDs, board presidents, marketing directors. The Kennedy Center’s President, Michael Kaiser, spoke recently at an ACSO conference and summed it up: the key to success is great art, well marketed. The artistic director dreams the dreams and thinks big, and the organization has to keep up with those dreams and aspirations, to bring them to fruition. Through our ACSO association we met folks who helped us to reach for our dreams: The Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra mentored us on grant writing. Joe Truskot from the Monterey Symphony was an organizational mentor. And overall, our association with ACSO raised the profile of the SLO Symphony. We’re well regarded in the state of California.
DH: How did you notice the symphony changing during your tenure as Executive Director?
SS: I think we learned to better understand our role: not just to put on concerts, but to support and advance the cause of classical music in the community. Understanding that mission helped enormously with decision making. For example, we send a string quartet into public schools to expose the kids to strings and build interest. A symphony board member once suggested that we send a jazz quartet, and he had lots of good arguments for doing that. Now, I’m a jazz fan. I think showcasing all the different instruments would be wonderful. But our mission is to promote and preserve classical music. And we have limited resources for doing that. So we focus on educating about strings, the defining element of the orchestra. I also got to witness the orchestra grow artistically. There’s money set aside for the musicians’ professional development. You guys can’t all go to LA for lessons, so Mike brings LA to you with guest artists and master classes.
DH: That’s a good point. We’re very lucky that he has those connections. Everyone was raving about Lynn Harrell’s master class, and the cello section sounded great afterwards. And just being onstage with really fine musicians ups your game.
SS: Exactly. And you know, we spend as much on musicians’ pay as similar-sized orchestras. We just have more rehearsals. We have six rehearsals spread out over a month for one performance. That’s really unusual. So on one hand, the per-service pay for the musicians is less than for other orchestras that don’t rehearse as much. But on the other hand, that’s what we do to deliver the best performances.
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