Sergey Emelyanov, director of the Alexandrinsky Theater met with the students of the Graduate School of Management of Saint Petersburg University (GSOM SPbU). The event became one of the highlights of Management Career Week 2022: Autumn. Olga Dergunova, Deputy President and Chairman of VTB Bank Management Board, GSOM SPbU Director moderated the discussion.

Management Career Week is a major event held by the Business School, which gives the students an opportunity to learn about the up-to-date requirements and trends of the labor market from company representatives. Top managers and company owners share their professional and personal experience with the new generation of managers.

 

"Today most of the students dream of a career in consulting or consider the oil and gas sector. It is very important for us to show the young generation that competent managers and financial experts are required in other spheres and widen their vision of possible career paths and opportunities", — Olga Dergunova, Deputy President and Chairman of VTB Bank Management Board, GSOM SPbU Director remarked at the meeting.

After the guided tour to the legendary Alexandrinsky Theater GSOM SPbU students had a chance to ask their questions personally to the director. 

 

Sergey Emelyanov told about the unique double theater management system, where director and artistic director collaborate to reach common results, and application of project management principles to carry out creative ideas: "Every festival, show or performance is a project, which involves not only the final event, but also a huge cycle of work. We adopted project management, and now we have creative project producers engaged in the work with youth. Almost a third of the theater's employees are organizers. Such specialists are highly demanded and hard to find. A person who is not familiar with the specifics will fail to lead the whole process from idea to its implementation. Performing artists clearly struggle to manage production processes. 

The students were eager to learn about the first steps to take when managing a large creative team, and Sergey Emelyanov sincerely shared his experience: "The main principle of a manager is mutual respect. Change is a natural and gradual process agreed by both sides. The staff of the theater are outstanding professionals. And the skill of being respectful is especially important. 

Students also wondered how the theater copes with today's challenges. The top manager spoke about adopting new ways of promotion, such as branding city transport or even airplanes. Changing the tour schedule allowed to save time for no less significant and interesting projects in the home country that contribute to the development of national theaters. 

The National Theater School educational project was launched this autumn. Its participants are students of the Fundamentals of Management in the Modern National Theater program. Anastasia Laskovaya, GSOM SPbU Associate Professor, Academic Director of Bachelor of Management Program became one of the authors of the course aimed at the development of project management, teamwork, change management and fundraising skills in the sphere of art, marketing and theater project production. 

National Theater School is an initiative of the National Drama Theater of Russia (Alexandrinsky Theater) and Association of National Theaters of Russia. The event is organized by the Alexandrinsky Charity Fund with support from the Presidential Fund for Cultural Initiatives. Educational sessions were held in Dagestan (Makhachkala), Tatarstan (Kazan) and Buryatia (Ulan-Ude). In November they will be held in Bashkortostan (Ufa) and Mari El (Yoshkar-Ola), in December — in Komi (Syktyvkar) and Karelia (Petrozavodsk). The first stage of the project will end in February 2023 in Mordovia (Saransk).

 

Photo: Vladimir Postnov