Good Things Come In Small Packages

I recently had the pleasure of attending the Chicago Opera Theater’s (COT) recent production of Nixon In China, an opera by John Adams, at Chicago’s Harris Theater…

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Get On Board

Work caught up with me this weekend so I wasn’t able to complete what I had planned for today. Instead of leaving the blog empty today I thought it would be good to revisit a popular article from September, 2004 which examines how individuals actually find their way into an orchestra’s board of directors. Within the governance framework of a 501c3, the board of directors has absolute authority and control; meaning, …

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Remembering Who’s Who

After posting the Lost But Not Forgotten Update earlier this week, I received a note from a middle manager that used to work at one of the ensembles which went entirely out of business. They wanted to point out that the middle managers and staffers within their orchestra received one of a few options after the bankruptcy proceedings concluded: nothing or up to a quarter of their promised vacation pay…

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…Just Don’t Look Down

The recent news that the Honolulu Symphony will receive a $4 million matching grant from the state of Hawaii is welcome relief for an organization that has been skating on thin ice as of late. How thin? At the end of 2003, the musicians accepted a 20% across the board pay cut in order to stave off bankruptcy. Since then the organization cut their executive director loose, undergone a board split, and recently lost their interim executive director after disagreements over the search process and day-to-day administrative issues…

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Lost But Not Forgotten Update

The Lost But Not Forgotten section has been updated. In particular, a recent settlement surrounding the former Florida Philharmonic leaves the musicians with approximately $0.22 for every dollar they should have been paid as creditors in the bankruptcy proceedings. Read more about that situation and as well as updates for the other ensembles at Lost But Not Forgotten. As a reminder, the Lost But Not Forgotten page is always featured in …

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