So Bad It Hurts

Among the string of Norm Lebrecht’s 10/17/2013 posts is one titled Worst classical covers of 2013 and it delivers what it promises vis-a-vis a string of curious album covers, not to mention one that is borderline creepy. Thankfully, Lebrecht’s post jogged my memory about a similar article from classicfm.com back in July I intended to write about but promptly forgot after getting sidetracked by labor dispute news. Here’s a few more that should be on a list somewhere.

Granted, these two are more of a retro crossover pop thing than strictly classical but as a tuba player, I die a little inside every time this nonsense crosses my path.

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Apparently Honey Boo Boo is getting cultured. Surely this will save classical music!

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In case you just have to get this for your device wallpaper, Flickr user FlamingTurkeyWings has licensed versions available in resolutions as small as an avatar all the way up to 4288 x 3216. Hooray.

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.

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