Drew McManus on the Orchestra business | est. 2003

NEC Cuts Zander Loose

Tue, Jan 1, 2012
An associated Press article from 1/12/2012 reports that the New England Conservatory of Music (NEC) announced that it had removed Benjamin Zander from all positions associated with the school. What brought additional attention to the issue was the information provided by NEC that it “had disciplined a faculty member who retained a videographer he knew

Bitch, Bitch, Bitch…

Mon, Jan 1, 2012
Adaptistration People 090
“All musicians ever do is complain!” If I had a nickel for every time I heard that from an orchestra manager; well, you know. But the fact of the matter is if I had a nickel for every time I’ve heard a musician complain about the workplace, I’d probably have just as much money (if

It Feels Good To Look Good

Fri, Jan 1, 2012
If you’re a weekly email summary subscriber, you’ll notice a new look for today’s email blast. Thanks to a great set of metrics tools provided by the email marketing client along with the bevy of beefy offerings from the powerhouse that is Google Analytics, the weekly email has been streamlined to provide much more of

Oregon Symphony Leaves The League

Thu, Jan 1, 2012
The 1/4/2012 edition of The Oregonian published an article by David Stabler that examines the Oregon Symphony Orchestra’s (OSO) decision to cancel its membership in the League of American Orchestras (League). At the time this post was published, Stabler’s piece has picked up a good bit of social media juice with 107 Facebook recommendations and

Why Most Discussions About New Models Are Dead Ends

Wed, Jan 1, 2012
It’s time to own up to the reality surrounding the sea of “new model” discussions in this business and why they’re futile unless they examine and propose adequate solutions to the genuine issues that drive professional performing arts evolution.