Drew McManus on the orchestra business.
Reader Janet Shapiro took the time to write in and take me to task over my recent grilling of Philadelphia Orchestra’s Joe Kluger. “I’ve been reading your blogs for quite a few months, and I mostly find that I agree with what you’ve written.
Well I’m off for the weekend again and during my three hour drive “there and back again” I’ll end up listening to a great deal of music. This weekend I’m loading the jeep’s CD player with: Michael Daugherty’s Metropolis Symphony The soundtrack from “Oh Brother, Where art Thou” A Smashmouth mix CD A mix CD of Patrick Sheridan, tuba soloist extraordinaire Liszt’s Totentanz and Piano Concerto’s 1 & 2: Boris Berezovsky, …
Recently, I had the opportunity to talk with Bruce Coppock and Herb Winslow of the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra (SPCO) about their new model of governance and artistic leadership. Bruce is the SPCO President & Managing Director and Herb is the Principal Horn & Chairman of the musicians’ representatives on the contract renewal committee. We discussed the recent changes at the SPCO and how it will affect their future as well …
“orchestra musicians’ internal motivation is higher than any of the other groups studied, but their level of general job satisfaction is quite low below that of federal prison guards, in fact, and far below that of members of professional string quartets.” – From a 1994 study by Jutta Allmendinger, Richard Hackman, and Erin V. Lehman. That’s a pretty heavy-duty finding. Most non-players I talk to assume that orchestra musicians love their …
Just a blurb today, I saw the article in today’s Chicago Sun-Times about the musicians of the Chicago Symphony initiating a vote of confidence on a resolution voicing support for Music Director Daniel Barenboim. I’m thrilled to see the players taking matters into their own hands. It shows what a majority of them feel is most important to their organization and it lets management and the orchestra’s executive board know that …