Off To Nashville

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I’m in Nashville today for the Nashville Symphony Orchestra’s (NSO) big Grand Re-Opening concert that begins tonight at 9:00pm CT and as of now, the concert is sold out so it promises to be an exciting affair. I’m touring the facilities today to get a firsthand look at the $42 million dollars in repairs and will post something on all of that next week…

Adaptistration People 152aAll in all, the NSO’s ability to not only address the expenses not covered by insurance but also keep work on schedule and within budget while successfully shifting operations to outsourced facilities is a welcome juxtaposition against so much of the “can’t do” attitude emerging from elsewhere in the field.

For a closer look into what I mean by “can’t do” attitudes, check out an absolutely wonderful blog post by Tim Page over at Clef Notes and Drama Queens from 12/28/2010. Good stuff.

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.

View all posts by Drew McManus | Website

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2 thoughts on “Off To Nashville”

  1. Kudos to Nashville. Have a wonderful time there, Drew. And you’re right: they managed this get through this crisis without any permanent downsizing, altering the orchestra’s mission or changing of the players’ job descriptions.

    (I certainly hope that fact doesn’t keep Symphony Magazine from covering this event.)

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