Down To The Wire In Indianapolis

The Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra (ISO) is a few weeks out from their February 3, 2013 deadline to raise $5 million. The goal is part of a deal that brought performances back to the public and ended an increasingly hostile labor dispute. Functioning as something akin to a cease-fire agreement, the board accepted the goal of raising $5 million while the musicians accepted a 25% salary reduction during the same period (additional …

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Leadership Turnover In Louisville

The 1/13/2013 edition of the Louisville Courier-Journal published an article by Grace Schneider which reports two key leadership position changes at the Louisville Orchestral. CEO Robert Birman will be leaving his position February 1, 2013 and board president-elect Bill Lamb resigned from his position last week. Birman was at the center of a prolonged and particularly ugly labor dispute distinguished by the first ever attempt by a professional US orchestra to …

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Tough Choices Ahead for New Jersey

In the wake of the Richard Dare resignation incident examined in yesterday’s article, the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra (NJSO) finds itself in an unenviable position of damage control. The most pressing issues are related to what appears to be a breakdown in due diligence during the executive search process. Look Below The Surface Perhaps unsurprisingly, the bulk of initial focus will be on the NJSO search committee’s actual due diligence but …

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Dare To Do Your Diligence

In case you missed the bombshell news over the weekend, the New York Times published an article by Dan Wakin on 1/11/2013 which reported recently hired New Jersey Symphony Orchestra (NJSO) President & CEO Richard Dare had quit in light of a 1996 case in which he was charged with an “attempted lewd act upon” a 15-year-old girl. Accordingly, today’s article will focus on issues related to due diligence and executive …

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Two Heads Are Better Than One

In case you’ve been missing it this week, a bit of YouTube viral madness has been making the rounds thanks to a video created by New York Philharmonic trombonist David Finlayson, who attached a GoPro camera to the slide of his trombone. The resulting slide POV clip caught made the rounds through network morning programs and even the Rachel Maddow show on MSNBC. So what could be better than a video …

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