Appearing Live On Detroit’s WRCJ Today

It will be my pleasure today to join WRCJannouncer Chris Felcyn today sometime between 2:30-4:00 ET to discuss the recently concluded American Orchestras Summit in Ann Arbor. In addition to the Summit, I’m certain we’ll chat a bit about the business of orchestras in general as well some issues relevant to Detroit. Local listeners can tune into 90.9 FM or you can listen online here. If possible, I’ll post some audio from the program or link over to something on demand. Chris is an intriguing host and I’m sure it will be a fascinating discussion. Note to Weekly Email Summary Subscribers: this week’s newsletter will go out on Saturday instead of today

In the meantime, be sure to swing by the American Orchestras Summit blog where throughout the day, authors will be posting their final thoughts on the conference. While there, don’t be shy about leaving a comment.

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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