Podium Time

Those outside of the industry may not be familiar with Tessitura. Not "the general pitch level or average range of a vocal or instrumental part in a musical composition" according to dictionary.com, but the arts enterprise software, originally developed by the Metropolitan Opera, which handles ticket sales and fundraising tracking among a myriad of other things for non-profit arts organizations.

I just returned from their annual conference, which was very useful, but that's not what I want to discuss. I had the pleasure of conducting the Tessitura Chorus in one selection at the opening festivities and what I assumed would be just fun, was more than that. The quality of the singing was quite high and I was disappointed not to have more time performing with this talented group.

Talking with other people in arts organizations, I was struck by the number of very talented people who decided for whatever reason not to pursue a career as a performer (or composer, or author), but to translate that love into a career in arts administration. The number is not inconsiderable, and I guess I shouldn't be surprised since that's the route I took. But it is reassuring that many of those who work so hard to create an environment for the creation of art are so passionately committed to it in multiple aspects of their lives.