Drew McManus on the Orchestra business | est. 2003

A Sad Day: Lynn Harrell Has Died

Thu, Apr 4, 2020
The news arrived early Monday morning that Lynn Harrell passed away. It was devastating. I’ve been fortunate enough to know and work with Lynn for more than a decade. Our work literally took us to the other side of the world and throughout those journeys, the best part was getting to know Lynn. Regular readers

Because I Refuse To Use Emojis As Punctuation, That’s Why.

Wed, Apr 4, 2020
I enjoyed a good laugh the other day with a colleague about her tendency to be misinterpreted via her written communication. Personally, I find it analytical and concise, but interpretation is far from a universal trait. If you’re like me and want to avoid succumbing to the evil that is using emojis in business communication,

There And Back Again, Performing Arts Edition

Tue, Apr 4, 2020
“Overnight we went from being a producer of live performance events to a digital content provider.” Those words were from a colleague back in March around the time it became clear the pandemic was more than a few weeks of disrupted event activity. And while those words are uneasy, he was saving the really dark

State Of Employment Poll April 27 – May 3

Mon, Apr 4, 2020
Since the onset of coronavirus related shutdowns, orchestras have been laying off and reducing hours for administrators and musicians alike. This weekly poll is designed to help provide a snapshot of stakeholder employment status. Since this weekly poll covers the beginning of a new month, it is the first genuine threshold where some of the

State of Employment Review, Week 3

Fri, Apr 4, 2020
The third week of figures tracking responses from orchestra managers and musicians about their employment status during coronavirus shutdowns are showing similar trends for admins and salaried musicians but a larger ratio of per-service musicians indicated they are not being paid for any cancelled services. At the time this article was written, the ratio of
Next