Best Summer Ever: My Internship Experience at Bravo! Vail
October 1, 2024Internship Overview
This summer, I had the great privilege and opportunity to work at Bravo! Vail Music Festival as an Institutional Advancement (IA) Intern. Bravo! Vail is a classical musical festival in the stunning Vail Valley in Colorado. The festival brings four world-class orchestras to the valley each summer for a month for large-scale concerts, intimate performances, and more. Additionally, Bravo! Vail hosts a variety of other professional music groups and solo musicians throughout the month-long festival, offering diverse performances and educational events.
This summer, I worked as the events-focused intern on our team of four IA interns. Responsibilities in this position ranged considerably, from working in Tessitura to RSVP donors to events and reporting to the team to attending all donor events and aiding in the set-up and logistics wherever I was needed, and anything in between!
Skill Development
Throughout my time at the festival, I gained hard and soft skills in arts administration and nonprofit management in general! One experience that was particularly exciting to me was the opportunity to work in Tessitura. The fact that numerous arts nonprofits use this software made learning it an exciting opportunity for my career growth. While I discovered I have much more to learn about this vast software system, I feel much more comfortable working within it, which is invaluable!
This internship was also my first experience working for a nonprofit organization. Sitting in on team and board meetings, speaking with staff in the organization, interacting with audience members, and witnessing all the organization’s functions was a priceless insight into how nonprofits run. One thing I was grateful for in this internship was how willing Bravo! Vail was to bring the interns into the team and let us actively participate, ask questions, and make the most out of this learning experience.
Soirées, Donors, and Everything In Between
One of my most memorable experiences at work this summer was also the day when we faced the most issues. I was a part of the team that hosted a particular set of small donor events called soirées. Donors hosted soirees in their homes and featured a cocktail hour, a short intimate performance from a musical guest, and a served dinner. These events required TONS of coordination among Bravo! Vail, the homeowners, caterers, production crew, artistic liaisons, floral arrangers, the audio team, etc. Because of this coordination and the fact that they took place off-site from typical Bravo! Vail venues, and frequently tucked away in the mountains without good cell service or access, they were often some of our most stressful events. There was one soirée in particular where there was miscommunication between the event lead and a partnering company, which created significant tension about an hour before guests arrived. I learned a lot from the interaction I witnessed, and I even took the moment as an opportunity to spring into action to help my supervisor, the event lead. Witnessing and playing a part in all these moments, good or bad, that happen within live event hosting was an invaluable experience for me. I appreciated that at Bravo! Vail, the interns were allowed close enough to the organization to really bear witness to the good, the bad, and the ugly.
More Than Just Work
In addition to the incredible work experience I gained this summer, it was also valuable to learn about the place I want to end up in. I was born and raised for 22 years in Arkansas before moving to Indiana for grad school, so I have always been curious about what living in the mountains, on the coast, or in a big city would be like. Exploring the mountains of Colorado this summer and experiencing living in a new place was a great personal learning experience that taught me more about what is essential for me in finding a place for myself after my MAAA degree! There is no denying that the organization and people I learned from this summer were top tier, but the setting was also nothing short of incredible.
Finally, I was also significantly impacted by the networking that I got to do this summer. As interns, our supervisor set up meetings with various Bravo! Vail staff for us to hear about their career paths, ask questions, etc. These career conversations allowed us to gain perspective on the industry and reflect as we started to build our careers, and were a great resource overall. Once again, I can’t state how open and welcoming all the people at Bravo! Vail were. The willingness to answer our questions and share their experiences with us provided great perspectives that I will keep with me, especially as I begin job hunting and enter my career. Not only did I get to build my network with Bravo! Vail staff, but I was also incredibly grateful for the group of interns that I got to work with and learn from this summer.
Best Summer Ever
I could go on and on about how much I gained personally and professionally this summer. The requirement of practical components, like the practicum and internship in the MAAA degree, is the most valuable learning to prepare for our careers. I feel fortunate that I ended up at such an incredible organization for this learning. I will leave you with three simple words thrown around a lot among Bravo! Vail staff throughout the festival, “best summer ever!”.
Read the full article by Sarah Smith at Blogs.IU.edu