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.

No Confidence Vote In Scotland

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In today’s Soctsman.com they feature an article by Emma Gunby about the rumor that the musicians of the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra have taken a vote of no confidence in order to remove their music director.  I don’t claim to know any of the particulars about that situation, but what I’m more interested in is the vote itself.  Back in early December I wrote an article entitled Empowerment Issues that advocates …

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Reader Response: Executive Compensation

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As promised, here are some excerpts from the many readers who took their time to send an email in response the executive compensation issues. Lawrence J. Fried, Executive Director, Bellevue Philharmonic (an ensemble not included in any of the articles) wrote in to say: As a twenty-year veteran of orchestra management, I can assure you that most of us are indeed paid for what we accomplish, not for how hard we …

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A Few Odds & Ends

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Neo Classical Article: I recently published a new article on my column at Partial Observer entitled Musical Fortune Cookies – Recalling the memories that make music special. It’s a light hearted piece that has a great story of exactly how you shouldn’t behave at an opera concert.  It’s worth the time, so go look. Some more feedback from the compensation articles: I’ve received many, many responses, (even one which included a …

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Compensating Effort Instead Of Achievement – Wrap Up

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LinkedInCopyPrint

The series of articles on executive compensation versus base musician salary has generated a great deal of interest and email responses from readers. Many of you wrote in with some very good questions.

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LinkedInCopyPrint

An Interview With Baltimore’s James Glicker

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A Short Aside:  I know some of you planned to read the wrap up article for the Compensating Effort Instead Of Achievement series today. Don’t worry, it will be up tomorrow. I had the opportunity to talk with James Glicker, president-elect for the Baltimore Symphony Orcehstra, via telephone last Friday April 9th, merely hours after the Orchestra’s board elected him to replace John Gidwidtz.  James officially takes over the reigns of the …

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