By 2026 Media and Communication Fellow Amanda Wong
Have you ever wondered what a day in the life of an orchestral management participant actually looks like?
For years, one of AYO’s best-kept secrets has been their unique non-orchestral programs (which compliments its orchestral performance program). Alumni of the non-orchestral courses have gone on to become successful composers, arts administrators, sound engineers, orchestra managers, producers, radio presenters, writers, cultural leaders, and more.
Halfway through the 2026 National Music Camp in January, I had the pleasure of interviewing OM participant Layla Maitri and program tutor Louisa Stanway (General Manager of the Tallis Scholars) about the two-week course and their experience. Here’s what they had to say:
What initially drew you towards the orchestral management course?
Layla (participant): I’ve had previous experience at camp as an orchestral participant and while I was in that, I saw these orchestral managers around. I wasn’t really sure what they did, but I was always a bit interested and so I thought, I really wanna learn more about what this is, and [that] learning more about arts administration or cultural management would be really wonderful. It’s also just such a unique opportunity to learn how to do this and gain skills that you often just have to learn in the professional industry.
Louisa (tutor): I was delighted to be invited back to National Music Camp. I was really privileged and honoured to be invited along last year 2025 to deliver the Orchestral Management course—I had an absolutely amazing time. There’s this incredible positivity and excitement at the centre of what we do working with young people who bring their own energy and positivity and curiosity and desire to learn—to be in that environment is very special and to work with these people is an utter privilege as far as I’m concerned—to be able to share some of my knowledge and experience from my career thus far with other people, but also to have informed conversations with them.
You’re halfway through the program at the time of this interview—how do you feel now compared to Day 1 of NMC?
Layla: I have been loving it. It’s very hectic but it’s also really, really fun. We’ve been learning so much and meeting so many interesting and skilled people which is really cool. I feel more tired, but I definitely also feel a lot more confident in my skills; and just knowing how to manage things and work with other people and knowing how to communicate really well and effectively with the other members of the team (who were just so fantastic)—that’s been really good.
Some might assume that orchestral management is just moving stands and chairs, setting up and packing down—but the reality is that it is SO much more than that. Can you give us an idea about what participants will learn in this course?
Louisa: There are a number of skills involved in the orchestra management as a whole. It’s often perceived that it’s just moving chairs and stands—and don’t get me wrong, that is a large and very valuable part of the role within orchestra management—but there’s also a number of other roles that contribute toward the whole. We learn more about each different department within an orchestra [such as] concerts or marketing or fundraising; we also talk about leadership as a whole and what makes that up; and some of the challenges and ideas that we have to play with some of the situations that we may find ourselves in and how some of the strategies can be useful for dealing with those situations.
The NMC orchestral management course is such an amazing opportunity to get to grips with some of these ideas. We have some amazing guest speakers; this year we’ve been joined by Alison Beare (chief executive at UKARIA), Kimberly Harding from the AYO, Richard Wigley from the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra, as well as a friend and colleague of mine from the BBC Proms, and I bring my own experience as well—so talking through all those different kind of angles and ideas, types of leadership, and roles within the whole that makes up arts administration.
Layla: One thing I didn’t know a week ago was how to move a harp—I can move a harp now which is really cool! Also knowing about how to communicate with conductors and different artists and learning how to accommodate their needs (and do it really effectively and professionally), and learning how to spike a stage, how to make a stage plan and a concert run sheet and just all those technical skills which are really useful in arts administration.
What does a typical day at camp look like for orchestral management participants?
Layla: We get to the buildings—probably a little bit before 9:00—and we’re there to make a plan for the day, set up all the rehearsal venues so they’re ready when the musicians arrive for their rehearsals at 9:30.
Once the rehearsals are underway, we go back to our “OM” home base and we’ll have a session with our wonderful tutor Louisa Stanway, and there we either have conversations with her or with other industry professionals; we’ve had talks with the CEO of the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra…with the chief librarian of the SSO, with people who’ve worked on the BBC Proms, artistic directors from overseas and in Australia.
We’ve also spent time learning how to make stage plans, learning how to make run sheets, and we just get to pick their brains and ask lots of questions. And then throughout those sessions, we’re checking in on rehearsals—we’re making sure that if we need to move stands around for tutorials or chamber sessions, we do that—and then at the end of the day we meet back and make a plan for the next day and then we rinse and repeat!
Louisa: What the idea of a typical day for a participant in the Orchestral Management course is incredibly varied.
When we have a concert day, we’re looking after and running the general rehearsals and then running the concert—so that’s quite a long day and my team have responsibilities within each concert; so there’ll be someone who’s assigned to be stage manager, orchestra manager, librarian and so the member of the orchestral management team will be working through what that role is and what they’re bringing to the team and the whole and the concert.
What are the biggest challenges and rewards that participants or future participants can expect from taking the course?
Louisa: I think some of the challenges and the rewards that participants in the orchestral management course can have during the two weeks is incredibly intense; it’s both a fair and unfair representation of the industry. When we’re working professionally within the industry, we have incredibly intense periods, but they’re often coupled with less intense periods—whereas everything is just focused in on these two weeks [at NMC] so that is a real challenge. But it also has the opportunity to learn that teamwork, communication styles, and ways of overcoming adversity. There’s such an amazing sense of satisfaction in that of ‘hey we’ve got this problem’ (and it may be something as sort of seemingly basic as ‘we don’t have any chairs and stands in these five rooms and the rehearsal starts in five minutes’) but actually overcoming that as a team and building those communications and ways of working and treating people is incredibly important, and it just brings such a sense of pride that we have made this happen—we have facilitated the musicians that we’re working with to be able to perform, to learn, to experience.
What have you enjoyed most so far?
Layla: Getting to work with the other participants of the orchestral management team. They’re all wonderful. It’s been really great learning how to work together and also supporting each other through all our various roles within different concerts. I’ve also enjoyed learning about orchestral librarianship which is a particular area of arts administration that I’m personally really interested in—so it was fantastic to get to talk to Alastair McKean (SSO chief librarian) about that.
Is there anything that has surprised you?
Layla: Something that surprised me was just how quickly we all learn things and know how to do things; I couldn’t move a harp a week ago; now I can take it upstairs which is a bit crazy! It’s also just wonderful to see how skilled everyone is, and how welcoming and supportive the environment is. The standards are still high, but it’s okay to make mistakes. It’s just such a valuable opportunity.
What is something that you hope participants take away from this course?
Louisa: I would really hope that a member of the orchestra management cohort is able to take away a curiosity, an excitement to ask further questions—to explore, to question, to want to develop and to know more. For me, that is really important that somebody feels they can knock on the door of a chief executive and say, ‘could we have a coffee, I would really appreciate just talking to you about a few things’, or the marketing manager or whoever it might be—they just feel that they have that value and that opportunity and that they should absolutely take it.
Is there anything you’d like to say to those who are considering on applying for the orchestral management course?
Louisa: I would just say a wholehearted ‘do it—what have you got to lose?’. You’ll have an amazing time in two weeks with people that you don’t know are friends but will become great friends and may well be an integral part of your life going forward (and they might just be friends for life) and you will have a great time—do it.
Layla: To those who are considering applying for the course, I would say absolutely go for it—it’s such a wonderful unique opportunity. Even if you’re not sure if arts administration or orchestral management is for you, you can learn so, so much and [develop] skills that are applicable not just to arts administration but transferable across a whole range of disciplines which is really valuable. It’s such a supportive place to learn, the tutors are amazing—just go for it :)
Applications for 2027 Now Open
If you’re interested in applying for the 2027 orchestral management course—there’s still time! Registrations close for the orchestral management course applications on 3 August and portfolio is due on 13 August.