Drew McManus on the Orchestra business | est. 2003

Another Example Behind Why HR Policies Matter

Mon, Aug 8, 2015
HR Matters
Chicago Symphony Orchestra (CSO) bassist Michael Hovnanian published an article at his blog, Bass Blog, on 8/8/2015 that references some recent CSO Ravinia Festival events. Shortly after the piece was published, several dozen musicians and orchestra managers reach out to me via private messages expressing varying degrees of concern over the content and tone of Hovanian’s

The CRM/RFP Shuffle

Fri, Aug 8, 2015
There’s an intriguing article in the 7/21/2015 edition of Nonprofit Quarterly (NPQ) (h/t Joe Patti) that examines the bottomless rabbit hole that is trying to evaluate Customer Relationship Management (CRM) options, make a decision, and implement something that resembles what it was you were after in the first place. In short, the author laments about

Still Pining For Increased Government Funding?

Thu, Aug 8, 2015
Adaptistration People 118
The 7/30/2015 edition of The Stage published an article by Alistair Smith (h/t Musical America) that reports on high levels of anxiety throughout the UK’s arts organizations in the wake of national elections that generated candidates supporting substantial cuts to existing arts funding. George Osborne [the UK’s counterpart to US Secretary of the Treasury] announced

How Dare You Sir! How…Dare…You.

Wed, Aug 8, 2015
Adaptistration People 065
Vu Le posted another one of his highly entertaining articles at Nonprofit With Balls on 8/3/2015 that examines the highly competitive nature of donor hoarding and donor poaching, otherwise known as fear incarnate. In the style that’s rocketed him to popularity among the nonprofit blogging world, Le disarms explosive topics by way of satire, which

And Then This Happened

Tue, Aug 8, 2015
Adaptistration People 087
It looks like the Cleveland Orchestra has found a replacement for outgoing executive director Gary Hanson and it’s the former New Jersey Symphony Orchestra (NJSO) and Melbourne Symphony exec André Gremillet. According to a press statement from the orchestra, Gremillet is credited with “successfully enhance[ing] the fiscal health” of the NJSO although that phrasing may