Here’s a crazy idea, why not apply the for-profit business practice of franchises to orchestras? Specifically, I’m thinking about a chamber orchestra that has the flexibility to perform chamber music as well as ballet and opera productions that offer a high quality artistic product for a lower than normal user fee (ticket price). You could either build on a successful established program or start a program that can be easily reproduced. From a bottom line standpoint, you can save a considerable amount of money on expenditures that relate to education, outreach, marketing, artistic operations, insurance, and accounting costs. Additionally, you can lower expenses by contracting guest artists, composers, and conductors for multiple dates and locations at one time.
The new “Age of Convergence”
One of the greatest benefits of the Internet Age is the ability for individuals to cross paths that would have normally never known each other. This new “Age of Convergence” allow individuals to share and develop ideas that mature from their initial stages to reasoned doctrine in less time than ever before. One of my passions is history. I firmly believe in that old adage “Those who fail to learn from …