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.

A different type of education

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I came across this wonderful article by Bill Duryea from the Nov 30, 2003 edition of the St. Petersburg Times entitled What they do for love.  After reading this story, it’s hard to imagine that anyone could be responsible for running an orchestra without understanding what it is to be a musician.

A Good Perspective

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I recently finished reading Walking in Two Worlds: A Librarian’s Perspective by Karen Schnackenberg, chief librarian for the Dallas Symphony Orchestra. The article was published in the Symphony Orchestra Institute’s October, 2003 edition of “Harmony”. If they ever decide to legalize cloning I would suggest they start with Karen, as the orchestra world can certainly use about 50 more people just like her. I’ll hit a few of the highlights here, …

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Recent developments in San Antonio

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I recently learned of a major development in the San Antonio Symphony situation. Steven Brosvik, recently resigned as the symphony Executive Director. The San Antonio Express ran a story in their Saturday, November 22nd edition. You can read the story here. A short time ago, I ran a blog that mentions Mr. Brosvik, which you can find here. You can also read about recent developments related to getting the San Antonio Symphony performing …

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Reader Response: Power to the People

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I recently received an eloquent letter from Frank in Alexandria, a reader that considers himself a “knowledgeable nonprofessional classical music activist” (I like that term). I believe he has some important insight to share:“In my judgment the factors underlying the maiaise with America’s magnificent classical music system were already identified long ago, one of the eloquent expressions being by Leonard Bernstein in his book of the early 60’s, where he speaks …

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What do you consider professional?

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During a recent concert intermission, I struck up a conversation with an orchestra patron newbie. I always enjoy talking to patrons about their experiences and observations and this conversation was no exception, save for one small question. Toward the end of our talk he asked a question about the musicians: “So what do these guys do for a day job” Unfortunately, the house lights were flickering and we had to get …

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