Understanding The Importance Of Legacy Costs
Fri, Mar 3, 2018
by Drew McManus
Anyone working in the labor side of things inside the orchestra and opera fields knows how much impact legacy costs have on an institution’s expense structure. Larger budgets typically mean larger legacy costs, especially pension obligations. And while that’s not going to be changing anytime soon, legacy costs in other departments have been creeping up
#TBT El Sistema After José Abreu’s Death
Thu, Mar 3, 2018
by Drew McManus
Saturday, 3/24/2018 was a sad day with the news that El Sistema founder José Abreu passed away. I was fortunate to experience the program first-hand in 2005 (thanks to Ben Zander and the New England Conservatory Youth Orchestra for inviting me along to chronicle their tour). That visit included an interview Abreu, which became the
Good News Out Of Seattle
Wed, Mar 3, 2018
by Drew McManus
An article by Janet Tu in the 3/26/2018 edition of The Seattle Times reports that the Seattle Symphony Orchestra (SSO) and its musicians recently came to terms on a new four year collective bargaining agreement. By the end of the new term, musician base salary will increase 11.4 percent. But what’s really interesting is language
Cultural Inspiration Poll Results
Tue, Mar 3, 2018
by Drew McManus
Last Friday’s poll asking readers about which sort of non-classical music outlets the rely on for cultural inspiration provided some fun results. Just under 300 responses have come in and here’s where things are (since the time this article was published). It’s fascinating to see the most common option was non-classical music events. At the
When Caution Pays Off