From stadium-filling world tours to amusement parks and cruise ships, University of Minnesota Twin Cities alum Josh Koser ’21 works to bring to life some of the biggest spectacles in entertainment.
Koser works for TAIT, a worldwide entertainment company that produces concerts and other live events across the world. Some of its recent productions include work with Taylor Swift, Cirque Du Soleil, Nike, Beyoncé, and The Olympics.
“It’s cool to see something I worked on get that huge,” says Koser. “That’s not something I ever thought I would get to be a part of.”
As a mechanical integrator, Koser is part of the crew that develops and implements the technical elements that make these large events possible. Depending on the size of the project, Koser works on teams ranging from ten to hundreds of people to build and implement the mechanisms that make creative visions come to life.
“I was the kid taking stuff apart and building random stuff in the garage, so getting paid to do that is kind of the dream,” says Koser.
His team collaborates with artists on projects from amusement park installations to concert sets, ensuring that both the artistic vision is executed and the structures are mechanically sound, safe, and fully operational. Most recently, he worked to bring Paul McCartney’s vision to life for his Got Back Tour, which came to Minneapolis Oct. 17.
Koser says his time at the University of Minnesota Twin Cities and the skills he developed through his double-major in theatre arts and mechanical engineering helped him merge the creative and technical facets of his skill set to turn his passions into a career.
While it wasn’t always an easy balance, he appreciates the value of having the experience of two majors that appear to be opposites.
“Working between the College of Liberal Arts and the College of Science & Engineering certainly requires some going back and forth, but once people understood what I was attempting to accomplish, everybody was super supportive,” says Koser.
Setting the stage
Pursuing a double major was no accident for Koser. “I grew up a theater kid, so I've always been in and around theater,” he says. “I was in front of the curtain a few times, but I found a pretty comfortable place behind the curtain.”
While participating in school productions and working on local live events in his hometown of Mankato, Minnesota, he still found time to indulge his other passions. “I also was a STEM kid, so I did lots of the science and math and engineering-like classes. I knew coming to the end of high school that those were both things that I really liked doing.”
While at the University, Koser began to move to the next level, becoming involved with the United States Institute for Theatre Technology (USITT), where he learned about career options that would combine his interests. “I knew there had to be companies out there that did the massive, complex live events that we were starting to see a lot of,” he says. “I didn’t know how or who or why, but I knew that it was out there, and I knew it was cool.”
Without direct connections to the industry, he used his time in undergrad to build his network from the ground up, including by co-founding the University’s USITT student chapter.
Later becoming the president of the USITT, Koser credits the experience with his introduction to TAIT. “I met face-to-face with TAIT for the first time at USITT conferences,” says Koser. “[USITT is] … a lot of exposure to people that are actually out in the world doing the thing, which is a good perspective to have as you’re learning how to do the thing yourself.”
Combining majors on the job
Being able to take a step back from a problem and understand how to move forward is a vital skill for Koser.
“It’s important to figure out what the right level of rigor is to apply to a problem,” says Koser. “We build giant custom machines, so sometimes you need to have a fully designed, fully engineered, super-duper vetted-to-the-moon-and-back solution, and sometimes you need to grab a roll of tape.”
Collaboration is also vital, requiring much more than technical skills and delivering a product.
“We have four or five hundred people in our headquarters [at TAIT], so figuring out where folks are at, what challenges they’re having, and making sure that you can understand and empathize with them is critical when you’re trying to get something done,” says Koser. “Knowing how to do your job is important, but being someone who people want to work with is even more valuable.”
His advice for current students is to find opportunities to gain experience in what you’re passionate about.
“Don’t be afraid to do it,” he says. “Try lots of stuff. You don’t have to be good at it; college is exactly the right time to go figure out what’s interesting to you.”
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