Clearly, I Am In The Wrong Business

According to an article by Peter Dobrin in the 7/27/2011 edition of the Philadelphia Inquirer, the Philadelphia Orchestra Association (POA) is claiming to have spent approximately $2.4 million in bankruptcy related expenses. But according to Dobrin’s report, that doesn’t really bother the POA as the orchestra spokesman, Matt Broscious, defined those expenses and any to follow as “onetime, short-term costs” that are necessary to put the organization back on good financial footing.

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Take My Blog, Please

After next week, I’ll be away on a working vacation at the Grand Teton Music Festival and during that time, it’s become a bit of a tradition to feature some guest authors. I have a few lined up already but I want to expand on what we tried last year and offer an open invitation to one or more readers interested in being a guest author…

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What's Old Is Old Again

There’s nothing quite like an old media vs. new media discussion; you can always count on it producing a few worthwhile bang-your-head-against-the-wall moments but the potential entertainment value doubles when the discussion panel is comprised of music critics. Case in point, there’s a fantastic blog post at sfciviccenter.blogspot.com that provides a firsthand account of a discussion panel from the 2011 Music Critics Association of North America annual meeting.

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Looking At Smaller Budget Groups Amidst The Economic Downturn

I received an intriguing email yesterday from Lee GrothOlson, Bartlesville Symphony General Manager, wondering about my take on how smaller budget groups are weathering the economic downturn. When compared to their larger budget peers, most smaller budget orchestras I am aware of (those up through $1.5mil annual budget) tend to have fewer challenges managing debt and budget shortfalls than not. This is due to a few primary reasons:

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Next Stop, Lawyerville

On Sunday, 7/24/2011 I had a good bit of fun as the guest on SoundNotion.tv, the new music and music news video podcast. The topics were quite diverse and as always, the SoundNotion hosts (David MacDonald, Sam Merciers, and Nate Bliton) were their regular inquisitive/challenging/edgy selves; simply put, they are an interested and interesting group.

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