A few weeks ago, a customer was distressed when I told her the Prelude to Act 3 of Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg was on program. We get our fair share of Beethoven lovers, Bruckner fanatics and Mahlerites, but the best are those who have strong opinions about very specific works. My favorites, though, are customers who come to Symphony Center for a very specific piece on the program. We also get a lot of school and tour groups, many who have never been to Symphony Center before. We get plenty of donors and subscribers on concert nights, including some who stop by for the sole purpose of catching up with the store staff. At the Symphony Store, we are many people’s first stop at Symphony Center. What’s one of the most rewarding parts of your job?Īs cliché as it may sound, the most rewarding part of my job is interacting with customers. Shortly after, my longtime boss at the store left the CSOA and I was in the right place at the right time (and thankful for it!). After a quick stint as a middle school band director, I realized classroom teaching wasn’t my calling. I had every intention of pursuing a career as a band director upon graduation and maintained my part-time role at the Symphony Store while I was searching for a teaching job. I joined the CSOA when I was completing my bachelor’s degree in music education at the Chicago College of Performing Arts. What was your career path before your current position, and what led you to the CSOA? I also assist with the distribution of our in-house record label, CSO Resound, to warehouses around the world and tour venues when the Orchestra is on the road. During the pandemic, our online store,, became my sole focus and continues to be a tremendous part of my job today - we typically receive between 600-800 orders during the holiday season, all of which are hand-picked and packed by me!Īside from managing the daily operations of the store, I am responsible for all merchandise produced with the CSO logo on it, which includes designing and producing merchandise for tour gifts, donor incentives, trade shows and other special events. I am also our principal buyer and work closely with our assistant buyer, Kathleen Vogt, to make sure the store is well-stocked and identify new and compelling products to add to our collection. My primary responsibility is to oversee the day-to-day operations of the Symphony Store and ensure that our store associates are well-trained and prepared to assist each customer that comes through our door.
How long have you been working for the Chicago Symphony Orchestra Association?Ĭould you describe your job duties as manager of the Symphony Store? In the interview below, Holstrom looks back on his past decade at Symphony Center, where he began working during his undergraduate studies. “As cliché as it may sound, the most rewarding part of my job is interacting with store customers,” he says. For Symphony Store Manager Tyler Holstrom, a typical week on the job may include discussing the merits of individual CSO recordings with customers, packaging online orders for shipment or developing the next piece of custom CSO merchandise, such as the annual commemorative holiday ornament.
0 kommentar(er)
