House Manager

The Santa Fe Chamber Music Festival is now accepting applications for a house manager position.
Successful candidates will be integral members of the festival staff for its 50th Season in July and August 2023.

The Santa Fe Chamber Music Festival is an internationally acclaimed six-week summer festival of over 40 chamber music concerts and youth concerts performed by world-class musicians. Under the leadership of Artistic Director Marc Neikrug, the Festival gathers artists from around the world to perform in Santa Fe. The over 100 participating artists for the 50th Season will include Susan Graham, Tony Arnold, Alan Gilbert, Kirill Gerstein, Magnus Lindberg, Inon Barnatan, Rachel Barton Pine, Ida Kavafian, Cho-Liang Lin, Choong-Jin Chang, Eric Kim, Anthony McGill, Stefan Dohr, the Dover, FLUX, Miami and Escher String Quartets, and others. Visit our web site at www.santafechambermusic.com.

Purpose of Job:
To act as manager of the Festival House for every concert and direct the work of Volunteer Ushers. Assist as needed with load in/out of hall at beginning/end of season.

Term of Employment:
July 6 – August 22, 2023. Hours will vary, compensation for the full season is $6,000.00, housing in Santa Fe is provided.

General Requirements:

1. Background in music and/or theater production.
2. Good organizational ability.
3. Must familiarize self quickly with Festival procedures, facilities, volunteers, staff and artists.
4. Commitment to working in an intensive 6-week period.
5. Good people management skills.
6. Good diplomacy skills in working with all types of people.
7. Ability to work with grace under pressure.

Concert dress code:

Men: dress slacks (no jeans) and white or black shirt, dress shoes (no sneakers).

Women: nice dress, or skirt/dress slacks and blouse.

Reports To:
Operations & Production Manager and Director of Ticketing & Patron Services

Duties and Responsibilities

PREP WEEK

• Go over the volunteer ushers list and materials with Festival’s Volunteer Services Manager. Lead the Volunteer usher orientation sessions prior to the first concert. (Orientation is scheduled for Wednesday, July 12 at 10:00 am and Thursday, July 13 at 5:30 PM at St. Francis Auditorium.)
• Assist production staff with beginning of season hall preparation and end of season closing as requested.
• Be at the Museum of Art loading dock when Program Books are delivered. Before the season starts, find out how many boxes of Program Books each Festival staff member wants, and prepare and deliver to Festival offices.
• Take inventory of Festival Green Room supplies. Purchase beverages and food items for Green Room at the beginning of season. Store food supplies in Museum basement kitchen. Replenish beverage and food items as necessary as the season progresses.  Present receipts to Operations & Production Manager.
• Meet with Head of Museum Security, Festival Operations & Production Manager, and the Festival’s Director of Artistic Administration regarding emergency procedure and hall evacuation procedures.

1. FRANCIS PRE-CONCERT DUTIES

• Arrive at St. Francis Auditorium (in the Museum of Art) at least 1 ½ hours before each concert.
• Keep in close touch with the volunteer ushers and work with the Volunteer Services Manager to arrange replacements as necessary.
• Before each concert, confirm with volunteer coordinator ushering assignments, direct ushers in the insertion of program notes and program changes into the program books. Make ushers aware of the expected concert run, late seating, etc. Explain any special notes about seating for that performance.
• During the arrival of patrons into the hall, direct ushers as needed, resolve any questions about seating, make any necessary corrections.
• Work with, as necessary, Head of Museum Security, who has dual responsibility to the Festival and to the Museum.  (It is important to develop a positive working relationship with the Museum security staff.)
• Realign and adjust the spacing between the benches in St. Francis Auditorium with Festival production staff before each concert.
• Assure that all public areas are neat and clean, with appropriate signage and posters in correct spots.
• Work with the Director of Publications to pick up program notes and deliver them to the hall before each concert.
• Keep the Green Room stocked. Purchase snacks and water, as well as any special artist food requirements as indicated by Operations & Production Manager and/or Artistic Administrator.  Set up Green Room before and clean up after concerts.
• Check with the ticket office prior to each concert regarding handicapped patrons. Remove chairs in wheelchair areas as necessary to accommodate handicapped patrons.
• Check with Operations & Production Manager on readiness of house to open and then open house.  (The goal is to open the House one-half hour prior to concert time.)
• Keep materials stored on Museum loading dock in a neat an orderly state.  Prepare usable used programs for reuse.

DURING CONCERTS AT ST. FRANCIS

• Explain to any latecomers about that performance’s late seating plan and monitor lobby to keep it quite during concerts. Late patrons are admitted to the hall between pieces only, never while a piece is being played, and never between movements unless instructed so by the Director of Artistic Administration.
• Ring warning bell before beginning of concert and at end of intermission. (Exact times and procedures to be discussed)
• Admit any late-arriving musicians into the dressing room downstairs. Work with Museum security guards and Festival staff on concert duty to carefully monitor admittance to downstairs area of Museum, admitting only artists and festival staff.
• Return ticket scanners to charging dock.

POST-CONCERT IN ST. FRANCIS

• Supervise post-concert pickup of Program Books and inserts by ushers, separating out any tattered, unusable programs.
• Put any items left by concertgoers in the Museum’s Lost and Found. Retrieve and store usher badges, sashes, and flashlights.
• Straighten up the Green Room and put food away.
• Straighten up the program boxes in the loading dock area.
• Straighten up the lobby if needed.

• Replace any chairs in the handicapped seating areas that were removed prior to the concert to accommodate wheelchairs.
• Be sure to enter the time you leave the Museum on House Manager Concert Report Form for each concert.
• Write and submit via email a Concert Report Form to Operations & Production Manager, Director of Artistic Administration, and Director of Ticketing & Patron Services.

CONCERTS IN THE LENSIC

When moving to the Lensic:

• Choose the appropriate number of boxes of Program Books to move from Museum to the Lensic for Lensic concerts. Work with Production Crew on the move.
• Move most Green Room supplies to the Lensic, leaving some at the Museum for final noontime concerts.

Two hours before each Lensic concert:

• Count program books left over from the previous night and replenish supply from inventory in the Lensic and/or bring program books to the Lensic from the Museum.
• Set up artist hospitality in Lensic Green Room.

• Oversee Festival volunteers stuffing program books. Be at front of house when the house opens and help direct patrons at the door to Festival Will Call table. Be a set of eyes for staff backstage alerting them to any issues that develop in the lobby with patron seating.

• The house manager is required to stay through late-seating for each Lensic concert.

GENERAL DUTIES

• Complete Concert Report Form for each concert.  Also, note any issues or concerns regarding all the areas in use by the Festival (include any heating/cooling, plumbing issues, Green Room concerns). Write final House Manager Report at end of season. All reports are to be emailed to the Operations & Production Manager, Director of Artistic Administration, and Director of Ticketing & Patron Services.
• Bring to the attention of the Operations & Production Manager any problems or issues that would need to be addressed with the Museum Special Events Coordinator (the Museum’s liaison with the Festival), or at the Lensic.
• At the end of the season, prepare Program Books and Program Notes for recycling, and assist Production Crew with preparation for loading out of the Museum of Art and the Lensic.
• Make a count of the number of leftover boxes of Program Books, both unused books, and recycled books from the audiences. Take a count of the number of leftover Program Notes from each concert. Report numbers to Operations & Production Manager. This information helps us make better projections of how many Program Books and Program Notes to print in the following year, to cut down on waste.

How to apply:

Please email cover letter and resume to 2023positions@sfcmf.org.
Please specify House Manager in the subject line.
APPLICATION DEADLINE: March 31, 2023