Drew McManus on the Orchestra business | est. 2003

A Quick Pointer To Some Recent Developments

Tue, Jul 7, 2004
I just received word that in today’s Philadelphia paper featured competing Op-Ed pieces about the situation in Philly.  One view represents management the other represents the players: Management’s piece Musician’s piece Both are worth taking the time to read and I’ll decipher the spin here in the near future.

How Tuba Players Are Going To Save Classical Music

Mon, Jul 7, 2004
Step 3, the final step in the series How To Save Classical Music, will focus on changing the internal attitudes among the stakeholders in an orchestra.  In order for orchestras to become financially and artistically healthy places that facilitate an exciting atmosphere for creating music, there needs to exist an exciting internal culture they can

What On Earth Is Going On At Philadelphia?

Fri, Jul 7, 2004
On Tuesday, July 13th, a big blue banner link on the home page at the Philadelphia Orchestra entitled “Securing The Future, Negotiations Update” appeared.  This was quite a surprise to see since it’s customary for both sides involved in a contract negotiation to have a press blackout. According to a representative from the AFM Symphonic

Mixed Messages From Philadelphia

Thu, Jul 7, 2004
Let’s try an exercise in understanding today; we’re going to walk a mile in another man’s shoes. Imagine: You’re a middle manager at a fictional company we’ll call Widget-Tech. Widget-Tech is a business with under 100 employees and has recently had a couple of bad years. The big bosses at Widget-Tech have put together a

Unemployed In San Antonio

Wed, Jul 7, 2004
There has been some good news coming out of the San Antonio Symphony administrative offices lately, such as the announcement last month that they will resume making music on September 17th, 2004 and the securing of a sponsor for some of their children’s concerts. Unfortunately, that’s about all of the good news so far.  Since