By Becky Flynn – Associate Director of Development Arkansas Gives: A 12-hour online giving event sponsored by the Arkansas Community Foundation. Nonprofit organizations across Arkansas encourage their donors to give during this day. Bonus funds are involved. Prize money is involved. This is one big day of donations for Arkansas nonprofits. This is my story…

By: Justin Craig On March 10th at 7:00 pm, the ASO will be presenting Something “Old” at St. Luke’s Episcopal Church in North Little Rock. This concert will feature the music of Bach, Respighi, and Vivaldi. I consider myself a pretty knowledgeable classical music fan. I’m generally familiar with the works of Bach. I own…

One of my main jobs as ASO’s Orchestra Personnel and Operations Manager is to create the orchestra’s rehearsal and performance calendar and ensure we have all of the musicians we need for each concert we perform. The orchestra schedule is very full, which means we have to carefully negotiate dates with all of the venues…

While the ASO continues to offer this programming through the Quapaw and Rockefeller quartets, I am pleased they have expanded their repertoire into other forms of outreach. My favorite of these new endeavors is the series of free concerts in the lobby of the Capital Hotel. It is a gorgeous setting, to be sure. The…

Coming to the Arkansas Symphony Orchestra as the Public Relations & Digital Strategies intern was/is an absolute blessing to me. When I first heard that the ASO offered internships, I knew that interning at the ASO would be a perfect fit for me. Interning at the ASO would be a place where I was still…

I was weeping as I sat in the shadows of the music-filled auditorium. I thought to myself, “What is wrong with me? Why am I crying?” I felt embarrassed. Here I am, a grown man crying for no apparent reason. My heart raced and beads of perspiration formed on my forehead as I tried to…

By Christian Eddings – Development Coordinator Seeing things from the other side has helped me gain a new appreciation and respect for the people who set the stage for me and other artists alike. Preparing for opening night of an ASO concert kind of felt like preparing for my own performance. I felt the same…

Have you ever heard the story about the stone masons working on a cathedral? You could say I work on budgets, or that I make sure the numbers add up, but I prefer to think that I’m helping “build a cathedral” – which in this case happens to be the Arkansas Symphony Orchestra. Work for…

By Barbara Burroughs –  Director of Education and Outreach Moving from the position of Executive Assistant 16 years ago, when there were 8 people on staff to my current position as Director of Education and Outreach with a staff of 15, means that over this time I’ve done a little bit of everything. During these…

By Leanne Day-Simpson – Orchestra Librarian and Education Coordinator As the ASO’s orchestra librarian and education coordinator (as well as being a violinist in the orchestra), work doesn’t come to a standstill over the summer months. While there is a sense of respite, preparation for the upcoming season continues. This is when some important work…