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.

New Search Feature Available

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Regular Adaptistration readers may have noticed that the page now has a dedicated search feature.   Give it a try, the link is to your right just below the contact information.

Time To Revise An Old Joke

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I have to share an early result from Tuesday’s little self test.  In response to the question: “Is an orchestra that has performed in Carnegie Hall better than one that hasn’t?” Many of you have responded by saying that you already knew that anyone can go to Carnegie so long as they can pay the rental fee, so I suppose it’s time to revise the old joke to something like the …

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Unnatural Restrictions

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So why are the orchestras of New York, Chicago, Boston, Philadelphia, and Cleveland considered America’s “Big Five”?  Is it because they are the five best orchestras in the country with regard to artistic quality?  Are these the ultimate orchestras for musicians and managers that worthy of their aspiration?  Take this little self test to help you decide, answer honestly and based on what you currently know – no sneaking off to …

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Reader Response: Hey, We’re Smart In America Too!

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Hugh Resnick, the Assistant Director for Research and Analysis at the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra, wrote in to remedy my ignorance regarding programs in the U.S. that is similar to the Australian course I wrote about on March 19th.    Hugh had this to say about a program he participated in while obtaining his MBA: “In fact, that is exactly how I got my job here at the ISO. I was an MBA student at …

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The Aussie’s Show Us Why They’re So Bright

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I was perusing though the list of referring links to Adaptistration the other week when I can across one from a management school in Australia.  Well that certainly peeked my curiosity so I followed the link back to a course at the Australian Gradate School of Management and what I discovered was a bit of a surprise. I found a list of online reference material about orchestra management.  Since my list of known …

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