Drew McManus on the orchestra business.
Back in 2010, I was warning the field against steady efforts from Internet Service Providers (ISP) to erode net neutrality, the series of FCC regulations that limit providers (think Time Warner, Cox, Comcast, Verizon, AT&T, etc.) from restricting, or even blocking, content for pretty much any reason they see fit. But a 3-0 decision by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit on 1/14/2014 has struck down …
It has finally come to pass: the Minnesota Orchestra Association (MOA) and its musicians finally reached a deal to bring the nearly 16 month work stoppage to a close. Both stakeholders released press statements to announce the agreement; the musicians’ notice focused on retaining what was characterized as a base salary that kept the orchestra in the top 10 highest paid ensembles while the MOA’s statement included a bullet list of …
Since its launch in 2011, Adaptistration Jobs has been a popular go-to repository for orchestra admin job postings and over the weekend, we put the largest single upgrade in place (to date). I’m enormously proud to say that it continues to remain a completely free service for both job seekers and job posters without subjugating either to advertisement overload. The latest updates make an already user-friendly system even easier to use …
I was saddened to learn the news that Doug Whitaker unexpectedly passed away on 1/9/2014. For those who didn’t know him, Doug was the Director of Artistic Operations at Memphis Symphony and an absolute archetype of the sort of professional arts manager that keeps this field running, often in spite of boom or bust cycles. He was the type of professional that won’t get singled out for attention vis-a-vis some gilded …
Just a quick post today on the the topic of music journalism; specifically, some good articles about a recent discussion going on about whether or not the Chicago Symphony Orchestra’s CSO Sounds & Stories website qualifies as what the CSO describes as a “dedicated music journalism site.” Chris Jones kicked off the heated discussion in an article in the 12/27/13 Chicago Tribune, Marty Ronish chimed in on 12/31/2013 via Scanning The Dial, and …