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.

Getting To Know You

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No, this isn’t an interview with Yul Brynner.  Instead, Adaptistration reader and music guru Robert Levine recently sent in an email prompted by the remarks from Janet Shapiro from March 8th.   In particular Robert wanted to address Janet’s comment that: ” you should write about the players, who in the [Big 8] can make what Joe Kluger makes for putting in 20 hour weeks (and who often act like spoiled children …

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Lost In Translation

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Just a pointer today while I take the day off for some woodworking.  I have an article posted at a column I write for Partial Observer that asks the question; Does America’s diversity prevent a relevant public music education experience?  In particular it deals with two articles featured here at Arts Journal; Across a Great Divide by Peter Schneider and Marketplace of Ideas: But First, The Bill by William Osborne.  Both article …

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More Grumbling About Ticket Prices

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This time the grumbling comes from Boston where the world renowned Boston Symphony Orchestra is experiencing a severe backlash from its patron subscribers regarding their steep ticket price increases.  According to an article by Geoff Edgers in the March 10th edition of the Boston Globe the BSO has raised ticket prices by as much as 80% for next year’s season.  Subscriber’s reaction has been, to put it mildly, less than enthusiastic with 35 canceling their subscriptions…

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Between A Rock And A Hard Place In Pittsburgh

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Today’s music headlines here at Arts Journal feature two articles about the Mountain Laurel Center for the Performing Arts canceling their summer contract with the Pittsburgh Symphony.  This obviously comes as bad ness for an orchestra that is already battling skyrocketing deficits and month to month cash flow problems.  I contacted Jody Doherty at the PSO to find out what the orchestra plans to do.  Unfortunately, the orchestra isn’t releasing any …

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