He’s Like Strom Thurmond Sans The Whimsy
Fri, Oct 10, 2013
by Drew McManus
Every now and then something comes along in the field that throws a truck load of old whitewalls on the seemingly unending tire fire that is negative classical music stereotypes. The latest collective embarrassment is from Maestro Yuri Temirkanov who reportedly believes that “the essence of a woman is weakness.” It goes downhill from there.
Some Intriguing Thoughts On Concert Formats
Thu, Oct 10, 2013
by Drew McManus
In June 2013, arts consulting firm WolfBrown released a report detailing the results from a three season long assessment of concert formats. The project was conducted using the post-graduate orchestral academy, New World Symphony (NWS) backed by what the report defines as generous support from The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. Of particular interest are the
Start Thinking About Making A Difference
Wed, Oct 10, 2013
by Drew McManus
Last Sunday, 116/2013, I had the pleasure of appearing on SoundNotion.tv and among the topics discussed were the value of transparency and the rise of the organized patron stakeholder group. On that topic, I gave the SoundNotion crew a head’s up about a new Kickstarter campaign I’ll be launching within the next month to raise
Do You Make These Mistakes?
Tue, Oct 10, 2013
by Drew McManus
It should come as no surprise that we create our own demons but avoiding the bear traps gets a little easier when someone takes a moment to point them out. To that end, Holly Mulcahy published an update at Neo Classical to her wildly popular series of parody fueled articles from 2008 and 2009 about
Get On Board The Giving Program Train
Mon, Oct 10, 2013
by Drew McManus
Shoshana Fanizza from Audience Development Specialists (ADS) posted an article at her business blog on 9/27/2013 about the value of contributing to sources of free information, ideas, and data throughout the field of culture blogging. As a result, she decided to lead by example by means of “deciding on a person to donate or contribute
Talking Up This Week’s Events
Fri, Oct 10, 2013
by Drew McManus
It’s been a busy week for tough news and in addition to keeping tabs here at Adaptistration Kathy Wurzer from MPR’s Morning Edition was kind enough to invite me onto the program on 10/2/13 to chat about what’s in store at the Minnesota Orchestra Association (MOA). An edited transcript and full audio are available at
NYCO Would Have Benefitted From The Walking Dead Triage Option
Thu, Oct 10, 2013
by Drew McManus
Yesterday’s news about the impending liquidation of the New York City Opera (NYCO) isn’t much of a surprise to anyone who has followed the group over the past several years. If anything, it might be curious to some why the group decided to prolong and even intensify its suffering and extend the misery to the
Two Minutes To Midnight On The Minnesota Orchestra Doomsday Clock
Wed, Oct 10, 2013
by Drew McManus
It has been an extraordinarily fast paced and destructive 72 hours for the Minnesota Orchestra Association (MOA), enough so to move the group two minutes closer to doomsday, which is marked by organizational collapse and subsequent liquidation bankruptcy. First Minute Saturday, 9/28/13: per the MOA board’s request, the musicians conduct a ratification vote for the
Osmo Vanska Resigns (Update 2:38pm CT)
Tue, Oct 10, 2013
by Drew McManus
Osmo Vanska is no longer the Minnesota Orchestra Association’s (MOA) music director. He tendered his resignation on the morning of October 1, 2013 and issued the following public statement. 1 October 2013 Press statement from Osmo Vänskä Today I have given notice of my resignation as Music Director and Conductor for the Minnesota Orchestra Association, effective
Decision Day In Minneapolis (Update 4:45pm CT – Carnegie Dates Cancelled)
Mon, Sep 9, 2013
by Drew McManus
Today marks the deadline for whether or not Osmo Vanska will continue as the Minnesota Orchestra Association’s (MOA) music director. Over the weekend, the musicians unanimously rejected the MOA’s latest offer, which retained the employer’s primary goal of reducing musician expenses by 25 percent; the only change in the recent incarnation was instead of instituting
