An Early Look At Venezuela

The Boston Globe published an article today by Indira A. R. Lakshmanan about the remarkable work which is going on in Venezuela.  Indira was along for the first few days of the same trip I recently attended (although Indira left just as I was coming in). 


It’s an excellent article which provides anyone with the fundamental information necessary to begin building a picture of what’s happening over there.  In addition to Indira and me, the always entertaining Boston Phoenix Classical Music Editor, Lloyd Schwartz, is along for the entire trip.  You’ll undoubtedly be able to read about the developments in Venezuela from his unique perspective after he returns next week.

About Drew McManus

"I hear that every time you show up to work with an orchestra, people get fired." Those were the first words out of an executive's mouth after her board chair introduced us. That executive is now a dear colleague and friend but the day that consulting contract began with her orchestra, she was convinced I was a hatchet-man brought in by the board to clean house.

I understand where the trepidation comes from as a great deal of my consulting and technology provider work for arts organizations involves due diligence, separating fact from fiction, interpreting spin, as well as performance review and oversight. So yes, sometimes that work results in one or two individuals "aggressively embracing career change" but far more often than not, it reinforces and clarifies exactly what works and why.

In short, it doesn't matter if you know where all the bodies are buried if you can't keep your own clients out of the ground, and I'm fortunate enough to say that for more than 15 years, I've done exactly that for groups of all budget size from Qatar to Kathmandu.

For fun, I write a daily blog about the orchestra business, provide a platform for arts insiders to speak their mind, keep track of what people in this business get paid, help write a satirical cartoon about orchestra life, hack the arts, and love a good coffee drink.

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