Lewisville Lake Symphony

The Lewisville Lake Symphony is one of the most vibrant regional orchestras in Texas.  The orchestra is fully professional and has a contract with the American Federation of Musicians (AFM.) The business side is run by volunteers with management skills learned in diverse industries.  We truthfully tell donors that we have thrived for more than 30 years by managing their money smartly.  We operate 12 events during the season.  Four are symphony concerts, and four are chamber concerts featuring outstanding students and faculty from the UNT College of Music.  There are two competitions, one for area high school musicians and one open to collegiate-level strings or pianists. Future audiences for classical music are important for classical music so we run an educational concert for the 4,000 third grade students in the Lewisville ISD and a dance version of “Peter and the Wolf.”  Additionally, the Symphony runs fundraising and volunteer motivation events. We need interns who are self-starting, have the ability to dissect an issue and do the work needed to implement the solutions.  If the interns perform well, the Symphony will take time to lay out the real-world mechanics of running an arts organization beyond those in the specifically assigned intern responsibilities.

University Intern Program Overview

Supervision and mentoring will come from the board member(s) who are Action Team leaders in the specific area(s) relating to the intern assignment.  The backgrounds of current board members includes individuals who have held executive, management and technical positions with companies such as GTE and IBM, as well as those who have been engaged in marketing/sales, business/accounting, and computer consulting.  We also have a number of members who are currently engaged in teaching music from the elementary to the university level.  Needless to say, in addition to their professional skills, everyone on the board has a heart for music.  In addition to one-on-one mentoring, the intern will be invited to attend bi-monthly board meetings to further their understanding of the workings of the organization.

Most projects are likely to be accomplished with little or no travel from the university to Lewisville.

Depending on interests and skill sets, the intern responsibilities will be defined from one or more of the areas listed on the following pages.  The scope and specific expectations will be defined in conversation with the intern at the beginning of the assignment.  Any of these opportunities can be fine-tuned and customized based on an intern’s specific skills and interests.  We are open to other projects that might be proposed.

Though not specifically stated, for all opportunities, the responsibilities of the Lewisville Lake Symphony (LLS) will include mentoring and advising the student.

Time estimates are approximate and represent a weekly average across the semester.

The list below  is in priority order based on the needs of our organization.

 







Category

Project

Intern will:

Output

LLS will:

Approximate Hrs. per week

Competition Support

Assist with the International Concerto Competition (to be held at UNT on March 11, 2017)

Handle email communications with contestants (receive questions, determine answers and respond), get flight and lodging info and recruit volunteers to provide transportation

Emails to contestants; create schedule for volunteers who will provide transportation; recruit and coordinate volunteers for transportation

Provide list of contestants and their emails; provide sample emails

2-4 from 12/15/17

-

3/15/17

Fund Raising

Grant writing - list of potential grant sources

Research and create a prioritized list of viable sources for corporate, civic and/or foundation grants most applicable to this organization

Prioritized list of organizations, submission deadlines, criteria, types of grants and dollar amounts available to this organization

Provide information on known grant sources (this is limited); provide information about our organization

3-6

 

Grant writing - grant submission

Write and submit one or more grant requests

Select one or more grant opportunities; complete the grant application; ensure submission meets deadlines, is complete and is compelling

Provide data as requested by the intern

4-8

 

Grant writing - terminology (could be combined with "Grant writing - list of potential grant sources" above)

Research and define grantor "hot buttons" and phraseology that is likely to increase success

List of terminology, data and/or phraseology applicable specifically to this organization that can be used in grant submissions

Mentor/advise with regard to understanding this organization.

1-2

Research

Research recent industry trends on measurable ways orchestras have built new audiences

Use the internet and other resources as available to research methods used by other performing arts groups to generate new audiences

A report which summarizes methods that have been successful in attracting new audiences and recommendations for which would be most applicable to this organization

Mentor/advise with regard to methods that have been tried

3-6

Marketing

 & Advertising

Campaign to promote concert and event attendance using social media

Research, design and execute a campaign to promote five concerts and one fund raising event for Spring, 2017, using social media

Timeline; engaging messages posted via social media on a timely basis

Provide information from which posts can be derived

2-4

 

Campaign to promote the 2017-2018 symphony season

Research and define a plan to promote the 2017-2018 season which includes various approaches (mail, email, social media, print media, etc.)

Timeline; key messages; proposed deliverables

Provide samples of previous years materials; provide information about 2017-2018 season; mentor and advise

5-10

 

Write press releases

Write press releases for Spring, 2017, concerts and events (5 concerts & 1 fund raising event)

One press release for each event based on performer bios, interesting angles related to music being performed, value messages, etc.

Provide performer bios, music to be performed, and logistical info

2-4

 

Category

Project

Intern will:

Output

LLS will:

Hrs. per week

Competition Support

Assist with the International Vocal Competition (to be held at UNT on March 9, 2019)

Handle email communications with contestants (receive questions, determine answers and respond, send notifications regarding schedule, etc.), create schedule of events for competition; schedule accompanists as needed; recruit volunteers; coordinate activities on day of the competition

Emails to contestants; schedule for competition; recruit and coordinate volunteers for competition monitoring, etc.

Provide list of contestants and their emails; provide sample emails

2-4 from 12/15/18
-  
3/15/19