In late March of this year, I was asked to give a presentation on Canadian orchestras’ use of interns for the Music Training Advisory Committee of the Cultural Human Resources Council.  This group – made up of music industry representatives, educators and professional musicians – meets annually to discuss CHRC research priorities, and update one another on training initiatives in the music industry.  It’s an interesting group, albeit one significantly more oriented towards the “industry” side of the music business than the resolutely not for profit world that Orchestras Canada’s members tend to inhabit.  Nonetheless, once I talk myself through the differences in vocabulary, we generally mean the same things when we talk about the challenges, the needs and the compelling reasons for the work we do.

To prepare myself for the presentation, in mid-March, I did an informal poll of Canadian orchestra CEOs, to learn how they were (or weren’t) making use of administrative interns

Three different models of internship were identified/alluded to:

• free and/or cheap placements of individuals prepared to take on low-level tasks, often coming from “mandatory volunteerism” programs such as Workfare and high school programs;
• short term 1-2 month placements as part of an academic program, paid or unpaid
• longer-term 3-12 month paid placements, with a specific career focus.  These could be seen as a first “real” job.

Something that came across loud and clear:  the eco-system is fragile.  Canadian orchestras have  a high level of dependence on colleges and universities to identify and provide basic training to interested individuals.  Two such programs in Ontario (Humber College’s post-graduate diploma in cultural management, and the University of Waterloo’s Centre for Cultural Management) have recently closed their doors, and a number of individuals were concerned about the impact this would have on their organization’s ability to identify and recruit good interns and entry-level staff members as well.

It was also pointed out that any successful internship must find a balance between the needs of the intern (experience, career development, access to a mentor or mentors) and the needs of the host organization (getting work of value performed in exchange for the time and energy invested).

Particularly when an internship isn’t associated with an academic credit, one person observed that internship programs MUST pay a fair wage if we are to ensure that we’re attracting the most diverse and brightest pool of candidates.  Otherwise, we risk restricting these positions to children of the middle and upper classes:  is that what we really want?  (This discussion has been particularly hot in the UK this year, with the release of a report entitled Emerging Workers, which you can find here:

http://www.artsgroup.org.uk/2010/01/emerging-workers-report-launch/.  Of interest, too, are the guidelines for internships contained in the US’s Fair Labour Standards Act, a synopsis of which you can read here:  http://www.blueavocado.org/content/legalities-nonprofit-internships)

One of the most thoughtful replies I received to my questions came from Véronique Fontaine, Human Resources Coordinator at the OS de Montreal.  She included a list of best practices in working with interns, the gist of which (given the vagaries of my own French-English translation skills), I’m repeating verbatim:

1. the intern should be introduced to all staff, via email and an in-person tour of the office
2. they should be invited to staff meetings
3. they need access to their supervisor and to decision makers
4. they should be invited to social events, as an acknowledged part of the staff team
5. they should be listed on the orchestra’s website, with a title
6. if the orchestra has a policy on complimentary tickets for staff, interns should be included
7. the intern’s tasks should be well-defined, achievable and set out in writing at the beginning of the internship
8. the intern’s supervisor must be prepared to take the time for formal and informal meetings with the intern, to ensure that projects are staying on track and that any issues are identified before they get too daunting
9. ideally the intern can be present for the beginning, middle and end of a project , so they see (and contribute to) the complete cycle
10. there should be a clear overlap between the intern’s work and exposure and their academic study

I’m now going to go out on a limb, and share some of my own thoughts on the necessity for welcoming gifted and committed young people to our world – and some of the questions that we are all going to need to deal with as we do so.

• Succession planning for management positions in orchestras of all sizes has been identified as a major challenge.  At the same time, these are hard jobs, with a punishing work load and hours that can make family life challenging.  Can this change, or is it endemic to the industry?  And if we don’t ensure that it does change, can we really expect that the succession planning challenges will abate any time soon?
• Given the management complexity, the need for continuous professional development, and the time commitment required, jobs in Canadian orchestral management may not pay that competitively.
• Even as roles and functions in symphony orchestra organizations have become more distinct, audience expectations of engaging in direct dialogue with musicians and performers via social media and other vehicles grow ever stronger.  How well set up are we – musicians and management alike – to deal with this?

These could be seen as gloomy observations:  but they could equally be seen as a call for bright, imaginative, music-loving and fearless young people to come forward and help evolve symphony orchestra organizations for the 21^st century.  We can amplify that call by considering how we welcome interns into our organizations.