Since the unofficial theme for posts this week seems to be innovation (or lack thereof in some cases), it seems fitting to round things out by pointing over to a recent post from Ron Spigelman over at Sticks and Drones that proposes some interesting ideas about how to re-think the process of searching for a new music director…
Month: October 2009
A Worthwhile Concessionary Agreement Part 2
Part 1 in this set of articles examined the concept of board atrophy, a general deterioration of board stewardship, and how it is impacting an orchestra’s fundraising performance amidst the economic downturn. For the most part, this is every bit as serious a threat to the future of orchestras as the actual economic downturn. Today’s installment is going to examine a recent concessionary agreement at the Utah Symphony & Opera (US&O) that contains provisions designed to combat board atrophy…
A Brief Detour
My apologies to everyone showing up today looking for Part 2 from A Worthwhile Concessionary Agreement but while traveling the road of acquiring some necessary permissions we have hit a few potholes; in particular, the gods of travel and digital communication have not been smiling on our venture. Nonetheless, Part 2 will be posted as soon as possible. In the meantime, I received an interesting press release on behalf of former Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra (ISO) music director, Mario Venzago, containing a statement from the conductor on events related to his non-renewal…
A Worthwhile Concessionary Agreement Part 1
Amid the dizzying array of contract reopeners, work stoppages, and other fraught-filled collective bargaining negotiations since last fall, the ensuing agreements are more alike than not in that they contain some degree of compensation/benefit concessions. For the most part, these agreements have nothing special worth looking at but there are a few exceptions. One of those exceptions is from the Utah Symphony & Opera, which announced their concessionary agreement at the beginning of October. What makes this settlement worth examining is how it is designed to marginalize a syndrome rarely discussed in public forums: board atrophy…
Marc van Bree’s Big List of Classical Music Twitterers
There’s nothing quite a satisfying as a good resource list and the world of cultural blogging has a new entry they can be proud of thanks to Marc van Bree, author of the Dutch Perspective, a self described “levensbeschouwing (a Dutch word, by way of Germany, meaning “world view”) based loosely on two themes: public relations and cultural affairs.” Marc’s resource list compiles classical music individuals and groups on Twitter…