How many choir directors do we know who STILL pretend performing at Carnegie Hall is an accomplishment? Don’t get me wrong, it’s a cool experience and can be a great opportunity, but it is by no means an accomplishment.
Find out why by reading my latest blog post
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Sean Berg says
Adam,
First let me say that I had some respect for your blog posts until the recent: How you get to Carnegie Hall…..just pay! I, for one, take major issue with your obtuse and narrow viewpoint and will not sit silently to allow someone with your platform to belittle and degrade that I work so diligently and passionately every day. How dare you try and cheapen my life’s work and contribution to the betterment of music education and choral music opportunities. The hours of work and organization on the behalf and in service to others, not to mention the time away for my own family and friends while servicing 95% of the tours, because I LOVE what I do and provide! SHAME ON YOU for being so narrow minded in your assessment of what it is we, Tour & Festival Operators, truly offer.
As a former High School Choir Director and current Community Choir director, my full time mission, for the last 15 years, has been in service to ensembles, directors, and communities, in pursuit of education, musical, and life experiences beyond what they might be able to accomplish on their own. I have been a choral music educator for 20 years and a New Yorker (Manhattan) for 15 years, having taught at the LaGuardia High School of Performing Arts and worked for several of the Tour/Festival Operators based in NYC before going on my own.
I would agree that the Festival and Tour market is saturated with so many more companies and offerings than even 10 years ago. I am also aware of our colleagues being inundated with information, requests, and materials for participation. You are clearly speaking about very specific organizations and festivals, and it is simple not justified to lump all such organizations together! There happen to be other business models out there than the ones you clearly describing in your post. If you are going to call people out, step up and be bold!
Case in point: ‘They require every student to sell a certain number of tickets, frequently 5, at a very high cost ($50-60 per ticket)’. Who’s ‘THEY’? This is a generalization that is widely unfounded and a gross misrepresentation! I don’t, and never have required this of any participating ensemble. Perhaps for you as a “local community” ensemble with an already reduces or waived participating may be asked to contribute something
Your claims of – ‘Somebody is making boatloads of money off of these opportunities and usually disguising them as select, or invitational in order to get our choirs to want to participate’ – and – ‘every opportunity for us is a place for someone else to make a very large profit’ – are so myopic and degrading! REALLY?? How do you know? Where’s the research and examples that show this to be true. Have you seen where I live, or my bank account, or my Profits and Losses statements? You clearly have no clue of everything that is involved in such a business and should be speaking as if you are an expert in the industry or of even vetting and selecting an operator that will serve your needs
Some of us choose not to solicit in the fashion that you describe and rely on other means like referrals, word of mouth, CJ ads, and Conventions. The Tour & Travel industry has always been fueled by vision, scope, and necessity. My guess is that you receive compensation, or would like to, for your guest conducting engagements, your workshops, your compositions, and maybe even your blog. Shouldn’t I also be allowed to receive compensation for my knowledge, experience, expertise, and service.
As a very good composer friend of mine has stated, we offer a superlative experience, one that is of the highest kind, quality, or order; surpassing all else or others. It’s really about the journey to the final goal where the magic happens. For my organization the festival chorus experience rehearsals with a guest conductor are, and should be, worth the price of admission!
In my experience, both as a choral director, and as a Tour Director/Coordinator, programs and ensembles all over the world have varied reasons for seeking out the services of an experienced tour/festival operator and colleague. For many of our colleagues it’s offering an experience they couldn’t possibly replicate at home, like performing in a major concert hall/venue(i.e. Carnegie Hall or The Kennedy Center), or may is performing a piece of music with a professional orchestra. It could be the opportunity to perform a major and historic work that they would not otherwise get to experience or perform, and it could even be the opportunity to do all of these things while doing it with the actual composer/arranger. These are incredible opportunities that many of our colleagues seek to open the eyes, minds, and hearts of their members and communities. I agree that they can also do things at home that add tremendous validity to their programs but something it requires something larger than the sum of it parts. These often, and really are, ‘Opportunities of a Lifetime” for a lot of people. I can’t begin to tell you the number of high school and college students that have been on tour with me whose first time it was on an airplane or to another country and not matter how many time I produce concerts at Carnegie Hall my favorite moment of all is when each individual sets foot on the Carnegie Hall Stage for the vest first time at the dress rehearsal/sound check.
As a music educator and ensemble director myself, I strive to offer ensembles a quality musical and educational experience that I would offer, and often do, to my own singers! The way I do business works and is successful, for me, and I come at it from a very pragmatic point of view being one of the very few in this business that is a music educator and choral director.
It’s also clear to me from your post that you clearly do not understand the true nature of costs and fees for a major venue in a major city event. There are all of those, and then there is New York City. Singe you live in NYC I expect you to have a little more knowledge and insight as to costs and challenges and complexities of arranging an event of the magnitude of 150-300 singers.
Without getting into the weeds with you, because I am an expert in the field, do you really know how much it costs to rent out Carnegie Hall for a night? I’m not talking about the rental cost because that’s roughly only 40% of the final bill! It’s a Union Hall that involves all kind of fee and services that are mandatory, i.e. stage labor, front of house (ushers), back of house (management), Box Office services (mandatory), publicity costs, lighting, the list goes on and on. Most schools and ensembles could not afford to take on a project of this magnates by them selves and pay the fees associated. We also take on a certain amount of risk because the rental fees are paid on the front end when securing a date and are non-refundable. How many schools of programs can take on that risk? We are also required to take on a multi million dollar liability insurance policy for events at major, union halls.
Then there is the profession union orchestra. Do you know what it costs in NYC to hire a 36 piece orchestra on a Union Contract for 3 services? I do. Then there is renting rehearsal space for the orchestra rehearsals and choir rehearsals separately, renting instruments, sound equipment, cartage and delivery fees, guest conductor fees and expenses, staff to coordinate and run the event and to top it off it’s all the other stuff that comes with traveling – flights, accommodations, sightseeing activities, Broadway Shows, meals. This is my full time job and there are often not enough hours in the day to coordinate it all. It is simply too much for some, dare I say, most, of our colleagues to coordinate on their own. This is why I am busy throughout the year. Many of these same colleagues also do not have the same opportunities and access to things that living and working in and around New York City affords.
Those of us that produce events at the major halls and tours to International and Domestic cities, offer it our own way and pricing varies throughout. In our capitalistic society pricing alway varies and is largely based on fixed costs along with the overhead that comes with having a physical office space and staff size. Some of us have a large staff and high rent in a large city while others of us create these opportunities with lesser means. It does require that one vet and select the company that best suites there needs and budget but there is a company out there for everyone’s vision and need.
It may be hard for you to believe but many middle school, high school, collegiate, community and church choir directors have very busy lives and schedules, teaching, interacting with, and inspiring their students and communities. Their obligations do not afford them the opportunity to write blogs with such sage wisdom and advise. With the exclusion of you, many ensembles and directors need the expertise and dedicated services of someone like me so that they may attend to the music and education of our singers of all ages.
Please note that your social media links on your BLOG site do not point to your actual social media sites but rather that of your WIX host.
As I mentioned, most of my business is repeat business and word of mouth referrals so I didn’t feel the need to even mention by company by name, but just in case you should ever need an expert in Domestic and International Custom Tours and Festival Operation, I invite you to contact me or stop by my booth at ACDA National in Minneapolis!
Kindest regards,
Sean Berg, Executive Director
Sechrist Travel, LLC