About ViVA
Mary Hawthorne
Finance Manager
Mary has been associated with sinfonia VIVA for nearly twenty years and has seen the Orchestra grow from infancy to maturity. She has found it a fascinating experience witnessing and taking part in its development. During the early years, meetings took place round kitchen tables, there was one archaic, unfriendly computer and no administrative staff. The intervening years have been, at times, a hair raising rollercoaster in which there have been many triumphs and the occasional setback resulting in the present professional and dynamic organisation.
In her role as Finance Manager, Mary has seen her workload grow correspondingly, 'although maybe dynamic is not the word for number-crunching' she comments. A farmer's wife and enthusiastic amateur musician, she works from home and spends her time sorting out a myriad of budgets, bills and reports essential to the life of the organisation. Although at times the task is seemingly never-ending, modern technology has eased some aspects enormously. Whilst most invoices are now paid in a few seconds electronically, Mary recalls that the first time she paid musicians after a busy month, she spent hours laboriously writing out ninety-four cheques!
Mary finds that being Finance Manager offers an interesting overview of the world of music and the arts and is a great contrast to life in rural Nottinghamshire...
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