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.

In Pittsburgh The Devil Will Be In The Details

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As if things weren’t interesting enough already in Pittsburgh, they’ve just become more intriguing.  Now that four of the “Big 5” orchestras have settled their contracts negotiations (more or less) the Pittsburgh Symphony is able to start working with some figures to set their pay future pay scale. If you’re not up to speed on the unique contract langue from the concessionary contract the Pittsburgh musicians recently accepted, their salaries are …

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Some Perspective

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An article in today’s New York Times by Daniel J. Wakin focuses on all of the recent contract negotiation settlements among the four of the “Big 5” orchestras.  It’s an o.k piece but there’s a basic premise this piece presents (either by Daniel’s design or his editors) that really bothers me; it makes it appear as though these are the only orchestras in the relevant musical universe. The article begins with: …

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Open For Debate

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I published an article today at The Partial Observer which examines how orchestras can use open rehearsals as an outreach and educational tool to build a stronger, more involved, patron base. Last week, I read an article in the Boston Globe about how the BSO open rehearsals should be a little more inclusive.  But the concept of open rehearsals should go far beyond that – it wouldn’t be very difficult (I know …

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Reader Response: Go Design Some Trash Cans

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In response to the article from A Coffee Mug Runs The Cleveland Orchestra, I received the following note from Thomas in Lexington, KY: Subject: dumber than usual Mr. McManus, [Regarding] the Cleveland Orchestra’s coffee mug— most people catch on that they really should read more than just the first entry of results from search engines. For example… I think I’m going to… send my resume to the Cleveland Orchestra c/o of …

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To Tell Or Not To Tell

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In Wednesday’s edition of the Dallas Morning News there was an article about the severe financial troubles of the Richardson Symphony Orchestra.  Unfortunately, there seems to be more than enough orchestras with financial trouble these days, but what caught my attention was that the writer, Kristine Hughes, reported in one of the opening paragraphs:

“[Richardson Symphony] Chairwoman Dalene Buhl and other members said they reluctantly agreed during a meeting Monday to take their plight to the public. They said they had feared current supporters would abandon the symphony if the situation seemed hopeless but at the same time didn’t want it to fold without a fight.”

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