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.

Classical Disconnect

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It’s no secret classical music isn’t part of the mainstream cultural consciousness, but it wasn’t always that way.  Where did things change?  How did a country with such a relatively short cultural history move from using traditional classical music as a benchmark for “legitimacy” to completely removing music as a cornerstone of cultural awareness? I published an article at The Partial Observer today which examines precisely those issues.

Contract? We Don’t Need No Stinkin’ Contract

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What’s the best way to deal with a grievance? At the San Francisco Opera it seems they prefer to pretend they don’t exist.  However, the American Guild of Musical Artists (AGMA) has decided that after nearly five years and 31 grievances (and more on the way), it’s time to force the issue by going to federal court. I spoke with Nora Heiber, the AGMA Northern California Area Representative, about the ongoing …

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Post Concessionary Thoughts: Do’s And Don’ts

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I quoted Sam Bergman in yesterday’s article as saying:

“Agreeing to this contract was the right thing to do, simply because many of the messes that exist in our organization are not the fault of the current upper management team, which has been on the job for only a year. It seemed only logical to allow a new group of managers an adequate period of time to reverse the years of mismanagement that preceded their arrival.”

And that’s a very wise and reasonable point of view.  But what happens if an upper management team fails in their attempts to improve the organization’s situation and, as a result, can not deliver on their part of the contract?

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More Details From The Minnesota Contract

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The recently accepted contract at Minnesota has provided another concessionary end to a drawn out negotiations.  A recent article in the Star-Tribune by Michael Anthony outlines some of the contract’s results. The article reports that the players have accepted a wage freeze in the first year and a delayed final increase until the final six months of their three year contract.  They also accepted a proposal to increase their deductible and …

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You Just Can’t Beat A Personal Connection

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A recent article in the Philadelphia Inquirer caught my attention; it examines the use of visual imagery during orchestra concerts.  The article’s writer, David Patrick Stearns, does a good job with the piece but I think the industry is missing a fundamental fact about the best way to connect to a new audience. All of the visualizations in the world won’t bring people into concert halls in any great numbers.  At …

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