Drew McManus on the Orchestra business | est. 2003

#TBT Residency Time!

Thu, Feb 2, 2018
by Drew McManus
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Next week, I’m off to Fredonia State University of New York as a guest lecturer for a two-day residency. I was delighted to receive an invitation from the Ethos New Music Society, a presenting organization established at the State University of New York at Fredonia, to discuss how composers and performers can not only survive, but thrive, in the contemporary performing arts field.

I’m sure a follow-up article will happen after I return but in the process of preparing, I took some time to go through some of my guest lecturing work over the years and came across the following posts:

Wisconsin-Madison’s Bolz Center for Arts Administration

A mock negotiation that ended up being all too real.

Sometimes I Scare Myself

UW-Madison Mock Negotiation Reflections Part 1

UW-Madison Mock Negotiation Reflections Part 2

Mock Negotiations: Contrasts & Comparisons

Northwestern University School Of Music

A workshop on the realities of a job as an orchestra musician.

Lecturing Today At Northwestern University

Some Follow-up From Northwestern Plus Odds & Ends

Arizona State University Graduate Orchestral Conducting Program

It’s tough to believe this one was 11 years ago but it still seems like it was just yesterday. I’m anticipating the upcoming SUNY residency to be similar in nature.

Summing Up My Time At ASU

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.

View all posts by Drew McManus | Website

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Adaptistration by Drew McManus LLC is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International.
Permissions beyond the scope of this license may be available at https://adaptistration.com/about/terms-of-use-and-permissions/.

PROFESSIONAL DISCLOSURE

Given the author’s position as an arts consultant and technology provider, he does not publish articles examining or focusing on current clients without first obtaining the client’s written permission.

EDITORIAL COMMITMENT

In order to ensure accuracy and provide a comprehensive perspective on any topic, I allow any individual or person officially representing an organization that appears in any Adaptistration article to submit a response which will be published, unedited. Responses are limited to 200 words and must address the issues at hand and the individuals and/or organizations must also be willing to maintain an open dialog for continued discussion.