Hey Get That Violin Case Out Of This Concert Hall! What Do You Think This Is, A Concer…oh wait

The 5/15/2017 edition of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram published an article by Azia Branson that reports Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra (FWSO) music director Miguel Harth-Bedoya was ejected from Bass Performance Hall for wanting to bring his daughter’s violin into the lobby with him.

Adaptistration People 130FWSO is a resident ensemble of Bass Hall and according to the article, a Bass Hall spokesperson indicated all resident companies were notified of the heightened security measures that kicked in on 1/17/2017.

Notice notwithstanding, Harth-Bedoya was none too pleased.

At the same time, it does seem odd that a venue specializing in the performing arts would ban musical instrument cases from their lobby. After all, the airline industry has federal regulations that allow musicians to bring instrument cases on board aircraft that would otherwise fall outside typical carry-on baggage dimension restrictions.

Regardless if you’re a venue operator or a performing arts organization, it’s in your best interest to make sure bag policies don’t become counterproductive. In Bass Hall’s case, would this provision prevent musicians from bringing cases into the lobby during musician-patron meet and greets?

I published an article at ArtsHacker today that takes a deeper dive into this issue along with suggestions for incorporating musical instrument cases into formal bag policies.

One Crucial Item You Don’t Want To Forget About When Creating Bag Policies For Your Venue

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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