Concert Hall Managers oversee the staff and daily operations of a concert venue.

Nashville-based Production/Facilities Manager Stephanie Bettig says, “Some days I might be working more on hiring, training, and scheduling our staff, scheduling a facility and writing contracts, doing maintenance checks on the facility or looking at upgrading some of our technology. It’s surprising how much administrative duties are a piece of that.

“Every day is different. We had a piano concert last week; that was a fourteen-hour day. It started with a visit from the Piano Technician, then a dress rehearsal, and while all that was rolling, I was hiring new employees and setting up a training event. Then we went into operational mode for a rehearsal that afternoon with one of our on-campus clients, the School of Music.

“After that, it was back into concert mode. Staff came in and there were a lot of our usual event duties but we were also doing a lot of training with new employees because it’s the beginning of the season. It’s a lot of running front- and back-of-house for event days.

“A non-concert day might start around 8 am or 9 am and be a lot more administrative stuff — doing payroll, for example. Today we had a small internal classroom event for the university and some ensemble rehearsals as well. So that type of day would end around five o’clock.”

Since Concert Hall Managers are involved with so many different aspects of the hall’s day-to-day operations, they work with a variety of people, including Stage Managers, Sound Technicians, Lighting Technicians, Ushers, Concert Hall Marketing Directors, Security, Box Office employees, and musicians.

The average annual salary for a Concert Hall Manager is approximately $50,700. However, Concert Hall Manager salaries can run the gamut from $18,000 to $84,000.

Most Concert Hall Manager roles are salaried positions, although Bettig says “it might run the gamut. My job might be a little different because it is on a university campus. Non-university venues might be a little different. Usually, it’s not a very well paid position and most are working more than a forty hour work week.”

Hey, what do you think about trying our new Music Career HelperMusic Career Helper really quick? It’s totally free and could help get your career moving fast! Give it a try. It’s totally free and you have nothing to lose.

Concert Hall Managers work long hours on the days when performances are scheduled. “I’m thinking about getting a hammock for my office,” Bettig says. “We joke we live in our offices. It’s kind of true. Like I said, there are fourteen hour days, but there are also some days because I’ve worked so long the night before, I’ll work half a day the next day. There are definitely evenings and weekends involved.

Because I work in academia, my specific concert hall is on a college campus. The rest of the staff work 8-4:30 and while they might expect to find me in the office during those hours I might not be there 1) because I might’ve worked a long day the day before and 2) because it’s not an office job.”

Concert Hall Managers usually begin their careers as Ushers, Operations Technicians or really, any other role involved in the daily operations of the venue. Once they’re in a management position, advancement comes through working at more prestigious, well-known venues.

To get a foot in the door for a position in concert hall management, Bettig advises, “I would tell them to work as many front-of-house and back-of-house positions as possible, just to get to know the customer service and operational side of things. If you can’t get a job, create your own opportunity. I’m a hiring manager and it’s interesting, I don’t actually look at educational experience.

“I don’t look at that for students or even care about that for when I have to hire non-students. I just look at [work] experience. I’m looking at people who have customer service experience and who have done their own productions, people who are getting their hands dirty and making things work. They’re out there troubleshooting. When you’re doing your own stuff there’s a little bit more learning that can happen.”

• “Go to one of your local venues and either get a job as an Usher or volunteer. Get some of that experience.
• Help set up, do some strikes and help out during any event you can at your local venue.
• Work on your own events. Find another way to get experience by working with clients to create a production and coordinating the needs of that production with other people so you can get experience on the planning end as well.”

As is often the case, the experience and skills required to be a successful Concert Hall Manager are best learned while on the job. However, aspiring Concert Hall Managers can benefit from certain skills training courses, and from making their own learning opportunities.

“I would get some emergency preparedness certifications, whether that’s basic medical training and/or life safety skills training, which might include training with weather preparedness, terrorism, or active shooter preparedness,” Bettig advises. “This can be very venue specific but there are some general things out there. Another certification you might want to look at would be an event management certification.

“One of the most important things is just to find ways to be the best leader you can be because so much of what your success is in this position is surrounding yourself with the right team and communicating well. There’s a part where you just need to run out and create your own events sometimes. You can create your own opportunities to learn.

“We just hired about 120 new employees for this year and some are front-of-house and some are back-of-house; some are students who are trying to do what I do. I’ll always try to start them in one or both of those positions so they can get experience being an Operations Technician or Usher. Across the board, those are part-time positions or on-call positions.

“So, what if you can’t work a concert [because of your schedule]? Well, create your own events. That’s how I gained most of my experience; putting on my own productions and working with Venue Managers as I went. That at least got my foot in the door.”

What kind of person can best manage all the various duties required to keep a concert hall up and running?

Bettig says, “I would recommend they have a certain level of levity to their lives and do not take everything too seriously. They need to play well with others and not be easily ruffled by high emotions because you’ll always get the bad feedback. You never get the good feedback! You just want to solve the problem and get everything moving.”

While Music Business or Event Management degrees can be helpful for this position, Bettig believes work experience is more important than a diploma. She explains, “I would say it’s more of a skill set than a degree. It’s more important to get experience and perhaps professional certifications than concerning themselves with a bachelors or masters degree.

“Really, at the end of the day, the person in this position will need front-of-house, back-of-house, and managerial experience so you can assemble the right team and run things appropriately. I’m not sure a degree would ever get you to that place.”

“There’s a professional organization called IAVM (the International Association of Venue Managers) and they have quite a few training programs as part of their organization that help different Venue Managers of all kinds,” Bettig says.

“There are some that apply to Managers of all kinds and some that are more venue-specific; for example, they have conferences for Arena Managers and Performing Arts Hall Managers. The other day I was doing their Event Manager training that helps with emergency preparedness.”