If you’re at all familiar with BRT, you know that educators are our heroes. But did you know that they’re also our superpower?
Performance travel is unlike any other kind of travel out there. The details and logistics involved with taking student performers on the road require unique insight that only veteran music educators bring.
That’s why we’ve hired dozens of them over our four decades in business.
Bob Rogers, our founder and a former band director, entered the travel industry with a valuable perspective that allowed him to anticipate what directors and their students need, every step of the way. Today, we continue to add veteran music educators to our team, encouraging them to use their rich experience to make every trip better than the last. Here’s how:
They understand what directors need.
Many of our educator planners are former band, choir or orchestra directors who traveled with their students, so they’re intimately familiar with the concerns and priorities directors often have throughout the planning process. They also know the common pitfalls to avoid.
Because our planning process is rooted in relationships, our educator planners have many opportunities to connect and relate to the directors they serve. BRT Travel Consultant and former band director David Brachmann explains:
There have been several times when a director started to explain something and I was immediately able to relate because I had at one point or another been in that exact situation. Each type of director has different concerns and I can relate to most of them:
- A band director might be worried about their instrumentation and I experienced how that is a constant worry from year to year.
- An orchestra director might be worried about where they are going to store their string basses or how they will safely travel with them on the bus, and I have years of experience lugging around equipment (I’m a percussionist, so it’s part of the gig).
- A choir director might be concerned about the type of keyboard that will be onsite to accompany their ensemble at a church performance, and I know the importance of having a quality instrument available to them.
Whether directors are concerned about payment options, safety on tour or have specific logistics to consider, the experience our educator planners bring to the planning process is invaluable.
They understand what student performers need.
Once an educator, always an educator. While they may not be in the classroom anymore, our educator planners can’t help but prioritize the student experience when they’re dreaming up itineraries with directors. They understand that the learning experiences on tour aren’t limited to clinics and workshops – the entire trip helps students learn and grow.
BRT Travel Consultant Alyssa Hosking takes the lessons she learned as a choir director to design life-changing experiences for students:
As I put trips together, I find myself still thinking of the trip as a director. Where will the students learn the most? How can they grow the most musically? How can we help them grow most personally? That’s how I start every itinerary I build. It’s been great working closely with directors especially, since I understand how hard their job is and I try to make this part of it easy, and hopefully, enjoyable.
They know how much travel matters.
Travel matters for so many reasons that we can’t fit them all in this post (but you can find some of them here!). Our educator planners have seen firsthand how performance changes their programs, expands young minds and benefits students in ways that classroom time simply cannot.
Several of our Travel Consultants started as BRT clients and after trusting us with their own students, decided to join our team. We’re honored that they’ve chosen to use their well-earned experience to make both our BRT trips and Ambassadors of Music experiences better year over year.
To learn more about our incredible team and our travel planning process, please visit our website.
