Staff Profile: Andrew

As we're now solidly in production mode for this season at Rush Hour and preparing for the third concert event, I thought it would be nice to tell you a little bit about myself -- I'll leave it to the other staff members to speak up about themselves!


I'm the concert manager for this season of Rush Hour. Essentially, I'm in charge of scheduling the volunteers every week (comment below if you'd like to help out!), assigning them their duties, making sure everything has been purchased for the pre-concert reception, and organizing the setup and cleanup. Other duties around the office that I assist with: technical troubleshooting (including this here blog), marketing (we all pool our resources here), press/media, and making sure everything runs smoothly at the concert.

I'm a graduate student in Ethnomusicology at the University of Chicago; previously, I was on full-time staff at DePaul University School of Music. My educational background is extensive (I already have graduate degrees in computer science and the social sciences, in addition to my music studies), and may seem impressive, but it basically overqualifies me for most work opportunities out there. I enjoy working at Rush Hour for a number of reasons: it provides me with a different perspective on music, I'm part of a team committed to opening the seemingly exclusive world of art music to new audiences, and the events are way fun!

I was trained as a jazz saxophonist and a modern composer before switching my focus to Ethno; much of my free time these days is devoted to the underground/independent rock culture, including working in promotions for a community radio station. I really can't say that I'm an expert in chamber music, or even art music in general, but I do understand the drive to expose something that you really care about to new people whom you just know would really appreciate it, given the chance. For me, Rush Hour offers a great alternative to the formal stodginess and high learning curve that the art music world often exudes. Not to mention the high prices and loooong concerts! People have fun going to art museums without feeling like they need an entire education in art history to enjoy it, but the same doesn't hold true for art music -- why not? Also, I've gotten pretty comfortable explaining to friends why popular music is so important to our culture, but discussing art music -- especially when I have little expertise on the "dead white guys in wigs" -- is slightly more difficult.

Rush Hour is partly about bridging those gaps: a dash of culture for the uninitiated, perhaps, who may be inspired to search out more. For me already, it's been a great education. I hope our audiences appreciate it as well!