Drew McManus

In response to yesterday’s article about audience feedback during concerts, a member of a major orchestra viola section sent in some worthwhile observations and strong feelings about standing ovations, rhythmic applause, clapping between movements and booing:

There’s been an interesting thread having to do with audience participation going around some of the more prominent classical music blogs around the country.  It has to do with audience participation;  should you clap between movements or boo after a performance that fell short artistically?  Although there appear to be some definitive rules in place,

To continue where things left off in Part 1, the concept of evolving giving circles into some thing like a Philanthropic Action Committee may be precisely what some orchestras need in order to help build their supporter base and increase active participation. Case in point, look at what’s going on in St. Louis right now. 

After reading through the articles about orchestra patrons forming Philanthropic Action Committees, Chris Carson, a member of the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra, made a good suggestion about changing the acronym from PAC’s to PhACs (pronounced “facks” or “facts”). I like that suggestion, so from here on out it’s just the PhACs

Fellow AJ blogger Andrew Taylor and an intriguing piece up the other week about something called Giving Circles, which Andrew describes as a sort of investment club for philanthropic endeavors. It’s a good idea and certainly something which can help increase involvement and interest in local nonprofit endeavors, like an orchestra.  However, after reading through