Drew McManus on the Orchestra business | est. 2003

In Detroit, Everything Still Comes Down To Trust

Fri, Jan 1, 2011
The news services and cultural blogging community are abuzz with yesterday’s news out of Detroit where musicians and management exchanged a vitriolic round of PR artillery. But the other news is that management asserts they have submitted a revised offer that provides the first series of economic improvements in several weeks…

Detroit’s War Of Words Escalates

Thu, Jan 1, 2011
It seems that the ongoing Detroit Symphony Orchestra (DSO) work stoppage has reached an unfortunate, but not uncommon, benchmark in that both sides have resorted to accusing each other of failed leadership…

If It Were Only That Easy

Wed, Jan 1, 2011
Adaptistration People 053
It has been making the rounds throughout the culture blog circuit all week but in case you haven’t seen it already, there’s a wonderful piece of satire at The Nonprofit Quarterly titled A Strategic Nonprofit Reorganization Plan that deals with the frustrations many arts organizations experience when playing the grant application game. On a more

Stakes Are Raised In Detroit

Tue, Jan 1, 2011
On 1/26/2011 the Detroit Symphony Orchestra (DSO) executive committee will meet to “evaluate the merit of suspending the remainder of the 2010-11 season, as well as indefinitely deferring the announcement of the 2011-12 season, until a settlement can be achieved.” This step is right on schedule as most orchestras need to pull triggers on major

Why Smart Managers Are Looking At The Slow Food Movement

Mon, Jan 1, 2011
Recently, Diane Ragsdale posted an interesting article at her blog that compares the Slow Food movement and the culture sector. It’s chocked full of thoughtful observations and, in turn, has generated a healthy comment thread. Ragsdale’s post made me recall the pair of articles at Neo Classical from Holly Mulcahy in 2008 on the same