Personal Assistant to Music Director

Woodruff Arts Center employees play an integral role in creating and supporting great art and education initiatives at the nation's third largest arts center. Comprised of three Art Partners-Alliance Theatre, Atlanta Symphony Orchestra and High Museum of Art-there's a role for everyone at The Woodruff.

Reports to:
Vice President of Artistic ASO
FLSA:
United States of America (Non-Exempt)
Employment Status:
Regular/Part time
Under the leadership of Music Director Nathalie Stutzmann, the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra (ASO) offers live performances, media initiatives and learning programs that unite, educate and enrich our community through the engaging and transformative power of orchestral music experiences.

Now in its 81st season, the ASO engages the diverse international community of our city, bringing people together in harmony - including our youngest citizens, with extensive opportunities for youth and families to fall in love with music. Two hallmark education programs celebrate anniversaries this season: the Atlanta Symphony Youth Orchestra celebrates 50 years, and the Talent Development Program - one of the longest-running musical education diversity programs in the country - turns 30.

The Orchestra's range and depth are featured in more than 150 concerts each year, including the flagship Delta Classical Series, Movies in Concert, Family Concerts, Coca-Cola Holiday series and many community and education concerts. The ASO presents many vibrant, wide-ranging events and artists through its Delta Atlanta Symphony Hall Live presentations. Outside of the concert hall, the ASO's Behind the Curtain video concert series enables the Orchestra to reach audiences beyond city limits.

The ASO performs with the world-renowned 200+ voice, all-volunteer ASO Chorus, originally founded in 1970 by Robert Shaw, and currently under the direction of Norman Mackenzie. The Chorus is featured on nine of the ASO's 27 Grammy® Award-winning recordings.

Music Director Nathalie Stutzmann

Nathalie Stutzmann is the second woman in history to lead a major American orchestra, and she has recently extended her contract through 2029. In 2026, she will also begin a four-year term as Artistic and Music Director of the Orchestre Philharmonique de Monte-Carlo. She was Principal Guest Conductor of the Philadelphia Orchestra from 2021-2024.

On the symphonic stage, Nathalie Stutzmann works as a guest conductor with some of the world's leading orchestra, including the Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks in Munich, the Staatskapelle Berlin, the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra in Amsterdam, and the London Symphony Orchestra.

Personal Assistant to the Music Director - The Position

The role of the Personal Assistant (PA) to the Music Director is a multifaceted position that provides comprehensive administrative, organizational and logistical support to the Music Director (MD). This includes managing the MD's schedule, coordinating meetings, and handling correspondence. The PA will also play a pivotal role as a liaison between the MD and the ASO's Executive Director's office and the ASO's management teams.

Work Schedule:

• This is a part-time (50%) role.
• When the Music Director is present in Atlanta, the role requires full-time availability at flexible hours, including evenings and weekends as provided for in this role description and as assigned by the Vice-President of Artistic Planning, in addition to business-day responsibilities.

Hourly Rate: Starting at $ 33.00

POSITION RESPONSIBILITIES:

The Personal Assistant to the Music Director:

• Serves as primary administrative support for the Music Director for all ASO-related matters, including all correspondence, scheduling, calendar management, record-keeping, ticketing, and other duties as requested.
  
• Generally acts as communication channel between the Music Director and the management and staff of the ASO.
  

• Is on call when Music Director is present in Atlanta or is touring with the ASO, with full-time availability at flexible hours, including evenings and weekends.
  
• Attends all of the Music Director's rehearsals and concerts.

• Accompanies the Music Director on ASO-related trips, tours or ASO-related external commitments, as required.
  
• Coordinates meetings involving the Music Director, prepares agendas and minutes, coordinates follow-ups.
  
• Takes the lead with ensuring continuity and internal communication around some of the Music Director's key projects, including:
  • Recordings
  • Tours
  • Residencies
    

• Facilitates communication, and acts as a conduit for communication on artistic matters between the Music Director and the ASO functions involved in its concert/recording output, including the following:
  • The ASO's Library team (oversight and implementation of Music Director's library needs)
  • The ASO General Manager's Office and the ASO's Operations and Production teams (including stage crew, audio, video, and lighting engineers)
  • The ASO Orchestra Personnel Team (including rosters)
  • The ASO's Artistic Planning team
    
• Facilitates communication, and acts as a conduit for communication between the Music Director and other ASO functions which interact with the Music Director, including the following:
  • The Marketing and Communications team;
  • The Development team;
  • The Sales & Revenue team; and
  • The ASO Executive Director's office.

• Facilitates communication, and acts as a conduit for communication with the General Manager's Office and the Orchestra Personnel Team to facilitate the Music Director's orchestra personnel obligations under the ASO's Collective Bargaining Agreement:
  • Auditions
  • Tenure meetings
  • Statutory meetings with ASO musicians.
    

• In close coordination with the Assistant Conductor, initiates and oversees discussions with the Music Director for the delivery of the following processes, in line with the timelines provided by the ASO's Collective Bargaining Agreement:

• string counts
• rehearsal plans
• stage set-ups / stage plots / orchestra seating plans / special stage arrangements
  

• In close coordination with the Vice-President of Artistic Planning and the Artistic team, prepares Music Director's itineraries, including coordination with guest soloists, for all Music Director's ASO rehearsal and concert activities; coordinates itineraries' execution with the ASO's Artistic Coordinator and with other ASO Teams.
  

QUALIFICATIONS:
To perform this job successfully, an individual must be able to perform each essential duty satisfactorily. The requirements listed are representative of the knowledge, skill, and/or ability required.

Education and Experience - desirable:

• Bachelor's degree from a four-year college or university.

• Direct experience in a VIP-level customer/artist/client-facing role.
• Familiarity with the American symphony orchestra environment.
• Familiarity with the Music Director's career.
• Familiarity with Atlanta and/or the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra.
  

Skills and Abilities:

Essential:

• Detail-oriented: strong attention to detail and exceptional organizational skills are essential in all aspects of this role.
• Outstanding written and verbal communication skills.
• Outstanding eye for presentation.
• Strong prioritization instincts; ability to work to deadlines.
• A strong ethos to execute tasks in a timely and effective manner.
• Outstanding interpersonal skills: ability to establish trust; to establish a strong rapport and to relate to diverse personalities, both internally and externally.
• Well-developed critical thinking, problem solving and project planning skills.
• Skilled at working independently, with minimal supervision, within a fast-moving team environment with accuracy, a sense of urgency, and the ability to multi-task and to act on own initiative.
• Innate empathy, sensitivity to discretion, nuance and diplomacy.
• Ability to use active listening, to ask questions, and to comprehend.
• Comfortable operating with a high-level of ambiguity, and with great flexibility and nimbleness.
• Openness to learn and exhibits a spirit of cooperation, teamwork, and flexibility.
• Professional manager-level desktop computing proficiency.

Desirable:

• Knowledge of the French language.

** SPECIFIC CONDITIONS OF WORK:

The Artistic Coordinator is a full-time, exempt position, with default work hours from 9:30am to 5:30pm, and with many evening and weekend work hours. While conditions may alter the amount of time spent on any one area and may also alter functions associated with the position, the time spent on the position responsibilities can be expected to be as follows:

Administrative duties: 60%

Artist hospitality duties: 20%

Artistic planning/programming: 20%

Physical Demands/Work Environment:

The work environment and physical demands described here are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

• Some standing, walking, bending, frequent use of hands, stooping and light lifting (at least 10 pounds) is needed.
• The noise level in the work environment is usually moderate.

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