Drew McManus on the orchestra business.
In what initially comes across as a sad copy-cat crime based on the Bolshoi Ballet scandal where in 2013, their artistic director was attacked by an assailant who threw acid in his face, the executive director at the Healing Arts Initiative (HAI) became the victim of a similar attack. Although both attacks were apparently initiated by individuals inside each respective institution, the Bolshoi crime was motivated more by power and personality …
After an official ratification process, the Grand Rapids Symphony’s (GRS) tentative five season long collective bargaining agreement (CBA) is now a done deal. The GRS and musicians issued statements on 4/5/2016 announcing the new five-year deal, which be implemented retroactively for the current 2015/16 season. Among the numerous details, one in particular worth pointing out is the establishment of substitute musician parity. But before we jump into that item, let’s take …
Last Friday’s April Fool’s post was a genuine hit but it seemed to simultaneously hit a few nerves. In particular, a number of reader replies (especially via email and social media) touched on issues related to the sheer volume of students produced by conservatories and schools of music vs. existing and potential job/opportunity capacity throughout the field. There’s no shortage on discussion about concerns over the music performance graduates vs. opportunity …
Sometimes, work is just downright fun and one one aspect that never gets old is introducing clients to Google’s Device Mode feature inside their Chrome browser. It’s such a remarkably useful and impressive tool that it never fails to come across like discovering fire. At the same time, it’s one of those things that you would likely never know about unless someone pointed out. I published an article about this feature …
The Juiliard Institute revealed what they defined as a “revolutionary approach to academic financial aid” today via a Scholarship Indemnity program. I was fortunate enough to be afforded an interview with the renowned school’s Dean prior to the announcement in order to learn more. At the beginning of 2014, the institution recognized that the bulk of their traditional financial aid reserves were being financed by individual donors, many of which were …