Drew McManus on the Orchestra business | est. 2003

If San Diego’s New Outdoor Venue Sounds Half As Good As It Looks

Tue, May 5, 2021
I’ve been meaning to find the time to do a deep dive into San Diego Symphony’s (SDS) new outdoor venue, The Rady Shell at Jacobs Park. As of now, finding info online beyond surface level promotional material is hard to come by but that will likely change as we approach the inaugural event on 8/6/2021.

Back In The In-Person Concert Saddle

Mon, May 5, 2021
Over the weekend, I attended my first in-person orchestra concert in 15 months and the experience was fantastic. To a large degree, the entire experience reinforced what I have been hoping would be the case in that there are opportunities and advantages connected to socially distanced concert events. This was my first time attending a

Don’t Make Me Beat You With A Bassoon

Fri, May 5, 2021
I realized too late that I should have highlighted Sam Bergman’s Take A Friend To the Orchestra post I referenced in a post earlier this week. After all, aren’t you curious to know how begin bludgeoned to death with a bassoon, malfunctioning hearing aids, and why knowing too much about composers can be a bad

We Seem To Have Reached A Good Tipping Point

Thu, May 5, 2021
It seems like every time I turn around, there’s a new job posting at ArtsAdminJobs.com. In the last four days, eight new jobs have been posted and two new profiles have been added to the arts admin resume database. It continues to make be feel increasingly hopeful for the near future, doubly so given the

Better To Shun The Bait Than Struggle In The Snare

Wed, May 5, 2021
There’s an interesting article by David Rohde from his Medium blog that examines how the traditional telemarketing approach isn’t just a path of diminishing returns, it’s downright self-defeating. Granted, we’ve been examining this very idea for years, but Rohde manages to provide some really useful connections to help drive the point home while keeping a