Question 1

What is the single biggest suggestion you would give to someone wanting to get into this career?

Kate Kammeyer · Accepted Answer

“Go to a lot of concerts. Hear as much music as you can — different kinds of music. Meet people. Really talk to and get to know people, not even just in the orchestral world but in the arts world, especially if you’re in a big city because you’re going to be connecting with a lot of different organizations. 
“It’s really about partnerships now. We’re not just isolating ourselves and putting on white light concerts especially because our audience now is older, white-haired, white people and we can’t do that anymore, especially in these diverse cities. Get to know the city you’re in, what its issues are, what’s important to it. See what kind of partnerships there are.”

Question 2

What’s the #1 mistake people make when trying to get into this career?

Kate Kammeyer · Accepted Answer

“This isn’t for Orchestra Managers, but for music students who come from a conservatory; they don’t know how to format a resume or how to communicate over email properly to people. Half of getting out there is not your playing. It’s the way you talk to people and how you communicate. 
“I’ve had a lot of students I’ve worked with who often were really terse, demanding and unprofessional in their emails and I don’t care how great you play your instrument — that turns me off and I’m going to tell my twenty friends because I don’t think that person should be out there making extra negativity when there are so many people out there who could play. 
“Even in admin, you should be careful about the way you’re presenting yourself in person or over emails. When you have interviews, yeah, you need to write thank-you notes afterward. There are certain things you need to do and you can’t get lazy about it and get assumptive about it, like ‘Oh, we’re in a different society now.’ There are still things you need to do professionally.”

Question 3

What is the question people should ask about this career but rarely do?

Kate Kammeyer · Accepted Answer

“I don’t think most people know how hard we work. You had great questions about the work/life balance and like I said, nights have always been for performances. I think people who have 9-to-5 jobs or jobs outside of the arts world don’t really understand and that’s fine. I don’t understand what Bankers do and that’s fine! But I don’t think they get how hard it is to work through all of this admin stuff. 
“You are dealing with a lot of personalities and it takes special people to be able to deal with those special people. It takes a lot of patience and self-care on your own end to be able to present yourself the right way with people. 
“There’s a lot of emotion because this is their art, their music and what they’re putting out into the world and it’s not just a business transaction. That’s where I think we get a little crazy and happy all at the same time from working in this.”

Question 4

If you could describe in one word what makes you successful, what would it be?

Kate Kammeyer · Accepted Answer

“I try to have humor in things. I’m not necessarily funny but sometimes I flip things in my own mind, to not necessarily be happy and positive and cherry — but to see all the sides of it. Try to find a sense of humor in things because otherwise, you’re going to cry because it can be so serious, especially in the nonprofit world. 
“It’s really tough in general; people are looking to the nonprofit world to provide not just art, but connection to community, connection to something bigger than just the art. Try and have a sense of humor, because then you can enjoy things. Even if it’s a dry sense of humor.”

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