Notes from the Office Next Door

A Guest Post

In Which Many Kind-and-Slightly-Embarrassing Things Are Recounted

Having the office next to Kim’s is a trip, in all the best possible ways.

During the summer it’s a little like living next door to the Mayor - the personalities that drop in are varied and colorful: Studio artists pop by to borrow a Nico Castel libretto collection; colleagues from marketing drop in, armed with a list of questions and a digital recorder to tape a podcast; a Filene Young Artist asks questions about next steps; a team from Development comes in to brainstorm methods to convey news of a new project to receptive ears; a director from a past season stops by to say hello; a voice teacher interested in teaching for our community music school comes for an interview. Each visitor requires a different focus, a different set of questions.

But I'm the most frequent visitor.

There is a path worn in the carpet from my desk to the chair next to Kim's desk. Some days I'm only in there once or twice. But more often I've warmed that chair a half-dozen times before lunch. Sometimes it's to get advice. Sometimes it's to vent. Sometimes it's to ask if what we're doing is working, or if we need to rethink it. Sometimes it's to just listen.

(And sometimes, it's for a candy fix. Stress eaters, unite!)

Her door is always open. As a fledgling administrator, I am hugely grateful that she's willing to share her experience. It's been an eye opener; to work with someone who is so into process, who is willing to rework ideas from the ground up.

And she's fun to work with. Beat that.

Over the next week we move into a period of juggling: operas, recitals, Studio classes, guest lecturers, and Symphony concerts. And on top of that it's time to think about the audition process, what's working this summer, what should be tweaked for next year. It's difficult to reflect when you're playing whac-a-mole, but we'll try. Don't be terribly disappointed if you don't hear as much as you'd like from us over the next week or two; rather, stop by and say "bonjour!" after a performance of L'Etoile. We'd love to see you!