Emma Matusovich '22 drew upon a slate of defining internships and opportunities at The Crane School of Music to land a promising position with the Boston Youth Symphony Orchestras (BYSO). As an Operations Assistant, Matusovich supports the daily operations of the six orchestras of BYSO—bringing her energy and order to the organization.
The prestigious orchestras connect more than 500 children in the greater Boston area with training and opportunities to perform, and have a particular focus on outreach and financial assistance for underrepresented populations. Matusovich fills her Sundays overseeing a handful of Boston University student employees who act as Orchestra Managers to set up rehearsals and support rehearsal operations. She coordinates with the chamber music director, ensemble coaches and conductors, and covers preparations and logistics to help ensure that as little as possible is left to chance on soundscapes full of moving facets. The rest of her week is filled with important administrative work to assist with ongoing BYSO operations.
“My Sundays start at 8 a.m. and end around 7 p.m., and the best part is watching the students love to make music,” she said.
Matusovich is well prepared to create musical order from entropy. Her fledgling career arc shows the promise of hands-on learning, an adaptable mindset and the leverage that Crane—with all its rigor and opportunity—provides for those to whom music comes first. A music business major at Crane with a minor in arts administration, she wore many different hats interning with the Community Performance Series at SUNY Potsdam. Her work started in the fall of 2020 creating digital programming for the Meet the Arts initiative. She was promoted to LoKo Arts Festival student intern during her senior year, which led to a role as assistant audience services manager and intern supervisor, working with CPS Director Vanessa Vaverchak and Assistant Director Meghan Stever.
“Vanessa and Meghan really gave me creative freedom and let me run with my ideas,” she said. “Meghan had an immense amount of trust in me, and I can't say enough about how she helped me develop as an arts administrator. I was given oversight of other arts administration students, which was unique for the program, and it allowed me to learn and grow as a manager.”
Matusovich helped produce the 10th Anniversary LoKo Arts Festival featuring more than 50 events spanning 10 days. In the same season, she was the house manager for “Jazz at Lincoln Center Presents: Songs We Love.”
“Maybe most fun, I acted as the manager of the Potsdam Bear Claws my senior year, which was the pep band for the hockey team,” she said. “As someone who grew up in a hockey family and eventually left hockey to pursue music in high school, this was one of the best ways to tie together my personal passions.”
Valuable Crane Experiences
Matusovich was working on biographies for the production staff during a Crane internship when she noticed how many of them had attended the University of North Carolina School of the Arts. Encouraged by mentors, she thought she should give the school a serious look, ended up applying and was accepted. In 2022, Matusovich found herself in Winston-Salem, immersed in graduate studies in fine arts, focused on production and project management as well as wind ensemble performance. Unafraid to pivot and redefine her path forward, she ultimately decided her path should lead back to New England. The graduate studies had helped lay the foundation for her leap to Boston and the opportunity for immersion in her craft at the practical level.
Matusovich credits the music business program at Crane for giving her tools fundamental to her success.
“It really is tailorable to the student's particular interest, and it forces you to build a resume with the practicum and internship requirements,” she said. “Students are able to seek and perform internships and practicums with increased supervision and reflect on the work they are doing.
“In terms of skills, definitely being able to be a musician first and an administrator second has opened doors for me working directly in an orchestral organization.”
Finding Her People
“As a kid, I always gravitated towards music,” Matusovich said. “I grew up in a musical family, and I really loved the music teachers I had in elementary school. When it came time to pick an instrument in fifth grade, my mom encouraged me to play the horn, as her uncle is a professional horn player in Chile. I loved band, but more than that—I loved the people I met in school band, and at band camp and district festivals.”
By the time she reached high school, Matusovich had given up hockey for music and was playing in two different youth orchestras as well as a youth wind ensemble. She also drew great value from her high school choral ensembles. The support and encouragement she found there from her educators gave her critical building blocks of self-confidence.
“And then, when I was 15, I went to New England Music Camp, which completely changed how I felt about music and what I wanted to do,” she recalled. “I met some of my best friends—some of whom I talk to daily to this day. Finding a place where I felt truly connected to both music and people was life-changing. It really made me want to pursue a career working with musicians, which is what led me to music business at Crane.”
Article by Bret Yager. Photos by Jason Hunter & Jesstine Avadikian