Preparing for the 85th Anniversary Season

Things are busy at Civic Music Association as we prepare for the 85th Anniversary Season. So, where do we begin and what are the steps to producing a season of world-class music? Here is a general time line of all our hard work:

August - The CMA Programming Committee composed of members of our Board of Directors puts together a "wish list" of artists. This list includes artists you recommend to us, so if there is someone you are dying to see on our stage, let us know!

September - I attend the Arts Midwest Conference and meet with dozens of agents while sampling potential acts. While exhausting at times, this conference is a music lovers dream! Almost every minute is filled with musical samples of talent from around the world.

October - I narrow down our wish list based on our budget, artist availability and discussions from the Arts Midwest Conference. Once the list is shortened, the Programming Committee meets again to listen to samples, discuss artist fees and put together three or four possible seasons.

November - I am on the phone many hours a day! I must negotiate fees, discuss our education requirements (we ask that ALL artists included in our season conduct an education program for the community), and narrow down the list to our final season.

December - Contracts start to arrive. I carefully read every line of the document to make sure we are able to meet all of the artist's requirements including food requests, equipment rentals, and even what temperature the hall must be set at for the performance. I have not had any really funky requests unless you count the upcoming Vienna Boy's Choir's requirement for lots of milk and cookies!

January - The Season is set! The beginning of the month is difficult because we must keep quiet until our formal announcement is made at our January concert. In the meantime, I am busy putting together press packets and working with our designers on a new brochure. We also must determine our new Subscription, Membership and Single Ticket prices. I am happy to report we have another year of NO price increases. In fact, this year, you will see some price decreases in celebration of our anniversary. Click here to learn more!

February - After our season announcement we start taking subscription and membership orders while promoting the new season. Past subscribers can take advantage of our early bird prices while new subscribers have an even deeper discount. In thanks for all of their support, past subscribers will receive a bonus two tickets to any concert in the 2009/10 Season.

March - We will continue to promote our subscriptions and memberships and our brochure will be mailed to approximately 7000 people in the next couple of weeks.

The months before our first concert (September 18, 2009) will be filled with planning, promoting and celebrating what promises to be a fabulous 85th Anniversary Season!

As we look forward...who do you want to see in the 2010/11 Season?

Meet CMA's Spring Intern!

My name is Danijela Radocaj, and I am an intern at Civic Music Association. I am currently a senior at the University of Iowa, and I am going to be receiving my BBA in Marketing in May of 2009. As a Marketing major this internship has introduced me to various marketing techniques and it has given me the experiences I’ll need for future jobs in the Marketing field. As an intern, my daily activates include helping Carrie in the office as well as tagging along with her to various meetings and presentations. I have been exposed to challenges that come along with running a non-profit organization and the work it takes to successfully run a non-profit organization.

With this said, the joy and rewards that a person experiences when working for a non-profit organization has opened my eyes to completely different career possibilities. I was always interested in non-profit organizations and it seemed more fitting for me to have a job where I am involved in something that is good for the community or the world in general. This internship has confirmed that assumption and I would love to have Carrie’s job!

Partners in Music Education

The Belin Quartet performs an in-school workshop at the Downtown School

Anyone who knows me knows how passionate I am about arts education. I truly believe it is JUST as important to a child's education as any other subject including science, math or reading. It is not an extra or something we can cut when times get tough. Without a sound education in the arts, children are not able to reach their full potential as intelligent human beings.

Iowa is 46th in the nation in per capita funding for the arts. This is embarrassing and disappointing. Civic Music Association realizes we must do all we can to enrich our community through the arts. Each season when we contract our guest artists, an education/outreach event is included in the contract. A lot of artists enjoy offering Master Classes or in-school workshops. This allows the artist to work one-on-one with students often in front of an audience.

Byron Stripling works with the Roosevelt High School Jazz Band

Perhaps the most rewarding part of my job is to see the results of our Partners in Music Education Programs. Nothing pleases me more than to do an in-school program or Master Class the day of the concert and then see those same students AND their parents at the concert that evening! Civic Music Association helps make that possible by offering heavily discounted and/or free concert tickets to Partners in Music Education participants.

All of our Partners in Music Education Programs are free and open to the public. Please feel free to come observe and participate.

The Georgia Guitar Quartet will be doing an in-school performance/workshop on Friday, April 17 at 10:00 am at Hillis Elementary School.

John Pizzarelli plays side-by-side a Drake University Jazz Combo

Welcome to Notes from Civic Music Association

Welcome to the first post of Notes from Civic Music Association. I will be providing an inside look on the daily happenings at Civic Music Association and sharing information about our upcoming concerts and events. I hope you will join me in discussion and leave feedback.

I love meeting CMA patrons! At each concert I try to say hello to as many people as possible, but between managing our guest artists and all of our wonderful volunteers, it is quite difficult. For those of you I have not yet met, please allow me to tell you a little bit about myself.

I grew up in Indianola where I was introduced to my first love of the arts...opera! I remember very vividly Opera Iowa visiting my elementary school for a performance of "Sid the Serpent" where we got the chance to sing side-by-side the opera singers. Needless to say, I was hooked! I started singing and went on to major in Vocal Performance and Music Business at DePauw University.

During an internship with the New York City Opera, I was introduced to arts education. It was amazing to see lives being changed simply by experiencing and participating in the arts. It was then that I decided I wanted to blend my love of music with education.

My first professional position was with the Lyric Opera of Kansas City as the Assistant Director of Education followed by six years as the Director of Education for Opera Columbus.

About three years ago, my husband and I decided to return to Iowa (a return for me, a new beginning for him) to start a family. I decided to accept a position at Simpson College as the Director of Government and Foundation Support in order to sharpen my fundraising skills. I was beginning to realize I wanted to be an Executive Director of an arts organization, and knowing how to fund raise is a must!

My lucky day came along almost two years ago when I heard about the Executive Director position at Civic Music Association. What a gift it has been for me to be back in my home state bringing the arts and education to the community!

One of my biggest priorities is building community awareness of Civic Music Association. I honestly can't believe how many people do not know about this wonderful organization. I hope you have seen and/or heard us in the media recently as we doubled our marketing campaign this season.

Where do you NOT hear about us? I would love to hear your ideas on how to spread the word even more.