Staff Excellence: Purdue Musical Organizations

Purdue Musical Organizations. For many, these three words immediately conjure images of the organization’s six engaging ensembles, approximately 300 talented student members and its wide variety of spectacular performances, including the annual Purdue Christmas Show.

But lesser known are some of the faces behind the curtain, or, in some cases, those with their backs to audience — the staff members whose efforts help ensure that the 91-year-old organization continues its legacy of excellence for generations to come.

Led by Bill Griffel, the Albert P. Stewart Senior Director of PMO and Jack Calhoun Senior Director of the Purdue Varsity Glee Club, PMO consists of 12 staff members — five music directors and seven administrative services professionals. The music staff oversees and leads PMO’s ensembles — the All-Campus & Community Chorale, Heart & Soul, Purdue Bells, Purduettes, Purdue Varsity Glee Club and University Choir — and the administrative services staff carries out all the business, communications, promotion and event management efforts necessary to maintain PMO’s success.

Regardless of their roles— from the music directors to the business managers and administrative assistants — all PMO employees share a common goal: creating and delivering unique opportunities and experiences that enrich the lives of students.

“Our staff is motivated to support our students in any way it can,” Griffel says. “We want our students to have more than just a singing experience. There’s leadership training, philanthropy opportunities and project-oriented development that are all student-driven with staff oversight, which makes PMO a great training ground for young students coming through to gain experience in those different areas in an environment that’s safe for them to experiment.”

PMO staff plays a major role in organizing, scheduling and promoting the organization’s approximately 75 yearly performances on campus, around Greater Lafayette and even across the globe, showcasing its ensembles in front of audiences across North America, Europe, Australia, Asia and Africa. Today, Griffel is making a conscious effort to provide travel opportunities to as many PMO members and ensembles as possible, often by collaborating with campus entities and partnering with other colleges to bring their performances to new audiences.

Prior to his now 17-year tenure as PMO director, Griffel was a music teacher — a position he held for 20 years. His education-focused approach is present in nearly everything he does, especially when making plans for the future. Right now, Griffel and his team are setting their sights on expanding their building and membership capacity to serve around 500 students.

“My vision is to create a department that is welcoming not only to all students, genders and voice types but also one that offers opportunities for all of our singers to have an experience that transcends their area performances,” Griffel says. “The goal is to try to create more opportunities for more students who are coming to Purdue. Those are the things I value as an educator.”

As for now, PMO has a big performance on the horizon — the 91^st Annual Purdue Christmas Show, a Broadway-sized production that packs Elliott Hall of Music’s 6,005 seats and fills its 136-foot wide stage with risers, Christmas trees, backdrops and, most importantly, extraordinary student performances that mark the beginning of the holiday season on campus.

Preparing for the event is an all-year endeavor that starts in January, just weeks after finishing the prior year’s show. The PMO team makes decisions at every turn, from music selection to choreography, costuming and staging, all the while working closely with Hall of Music Productions to bring the show to life. As the performance dates approach, PMO staff also takes charge of other key elements like coordinating seating preferences with the box office, organizing a meal for the entire cast during the weekend of the event, locating volunteers to assist with ushering and securing golf carts to transport audience members from campus parking garages to the theater.

In just over a month, all of their hard work will be on display as they welcome Boilermaker audiences for this year’s performances, set for Dec. 7-8. Everything — from the preparations to the performances themselves — exudes excellence at the highest caliber, something that Griffel champions year-round.

“I don’t think we operate a day without thinking of excellence at that level,” Griffel says. “When the university wants to showcase student excellence, our organization is usually right out front. Every day is a new opportunity, and we know that excellence permeates in everything our staff does.”

As one of the most public-facing organizations on campus, PMO never shies away from the spotlight, offering ample opportunities for its staff to channel its creativity and passion into efforts that best serve the students who make the organization’s existence possible. Whether they’re promoting a performance, preparing for an annual show or simply dreaming up ideas for the future of the organization, PMO staff members are always putting their best foot forward, taking small steps toward the big goals that await them.

“I have a pretty long list of things that we’re proud of, and we have a lot of big dreams,” Griffel says. “We’re a small organization compared to some of our partners across campus, so we have to speak loudly, and usually it’s reflected in the quality of what we do.”