Another Step Toward Monetizing Socially Distanced In-Person Concert Events

Jim Farber has been following classical music organizations making the leap from testing free in-person socially distanced events to those that are strictly admission based. His latest article in the 9/14/2020 edition of the sfcv.org examines Mainly Mozart’s efforts over the summer that have evolved into a sort of live concert terrarium testing environment. The article takes a look at the efforts from business, artistic, and operations perspectives. The organization plans …

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Shop Talk S01E03: Deconstructing Silos

In the beginning when Artsgod created nonprofit administration, the org chart was a formless void of jack-of-all-trades that covered the face of the deep. Then Artsgod said, “Let there be light” and there was light. Artsgod saw that the light was good; and he separated marketing from development. Artsgod called the light earned income and the darkness was called unearned income. There was now a revenue stream where never the two …

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In the Age Of COVID, Necessity Is The Mother Of Invention

Orchestras that aren’t shuttered through 2021 face a similar challenge in that they need to identify venues that meet local, state, and national safety guidelines. The trouble with that is many don’t own their own facility and as the Ft. Worth Symphony Orchestra recently learned, an owner can pull the rug out from under you in short notice. For orchestras in milder climates, outdoor stadium venues offer unique potential. They want …

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Perspective And Pushback To Tommasini’s Commentary On Blind Auditions

The 9/10/2020 edition of New York Times published a follow-up article to the opinion piece written by Anthony Tommasini in paper’s 7/16/2020 publication. The follow-up is intriguing in that if contains several noteworthy perspectives. The best rejoinders came from groups of respondents. The first, Weston Sprott (recent Shop Talk guest), Alex Laing, Joy Payton-Stevens, and Titus Underwood. It does a superb job at poking holes in the idea that auditions, and …

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Indianapolis Symphony Reaches Short Term Deal

When we last examined the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra (ISO) back in July 2020, things were looking grim; the current collective bargaining agreement (CBA) was expiring in a few months and there was a protracted dispute over back pay and health care benefits. Since then, the organization announced cancelling the entire 20/21 season and fast forward a few weeks and we have a new one-year agreement that covers the length of the …

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