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.

Stealing From Terry Teachout

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After reading Terry’s weblog article yesterday I decided it was a great idea and promptly decided to “borrow” it (after all, he openly admits he got the idea from Eve Tushnet). Ten Things I’ve Done That You Probably Haven’t (and perhaps wouldn’t want to): While in college, I accidentally signed to my sign language teacher, and her 14 year old daughter standing behind her, that it was a “fu*king hot summer that year” …

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Reader Response: Audience Participation

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The recent series of ongoing discussions about the concert experience among those who participate in the cultural blog world has generated a great deal of poignant observation.  The majority of the discussions as of late have focused on whether or not he concert environment as it currently exists is everything it could be and what is an appropriate level of audience participation (if there is such a thing). There’s certainly no …

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Some Feedback On Management Philosophy

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In response to yesterday’s article about managers who allow a “musicians are only part time employees” philosophy to become an obstacle to growth in the business, there have been a few new public examinations of the issue. One such observation comes from Patricia Mitchell at oboeinsight wrote what I think is one of the most eloquent accounts of what being a musician  who performs in ROPA ensembles is really all about. …

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Destructive Management Philosophy

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One of the issues this blog is devoted to is the ongoing discussions and examination of orchestra management philosophy.  Even the seemingly innocent of attitudes and beliefs held by an orchestra’s executive management arguably shape organization’s future.

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