I'm All About The Good News

I finally get a chance to talk to the crew at SoundNotion.tv about something other than doom, gloom, destruction, labor fights, pension gutting, and other such nonsense in this Sunday’s episode. If you’re new to SoundNotion.tv’s weekly internet video show you’ve been missing out. This pack of 20-something composers + 1 have demonstrated over the past year that they can take a good idea that started off as something fun to do in grad school and keep it going for no other reason than the fact that the content, format, and discussion is fun and informative. If it weren’t, do you think they’d have a regular cavalcade of guests like Alex Ross, Jeremy Denk, Augusta Read Thomas, yours truly, and many, many more?

One change since the last time I was on the program is they now broadcast each episode live (which means I have to actually watch what I say) and this week’s episode is going to cover some of the good news going on in the field right now. On the agenda is St. Louis Symphony and I also plan to talk about Nashville, Dayton, Chicago, and more if time permits.

I did notice on last week’s program they spent some time talking about Bill Eddins’ now infamous Schoenberg post and I’m curious why Bill wasn’t there live to chat about it (although I did enjoy the fact that they didn’t shy away from asking Augusta Read Thomas what she thought). So hintidy hint, hint, guys.

Nonetheless, even if you can’t join the program live, they archive everything in video and audio format so you’ll be able to enjoy at your leisure. And if you can join live, they offer the ability to live chat (UStream registered users only) during the broadcast.

Who

The crew from SoundNotion.tv and me.

When

Sunday, July 8th at 11:00am(ish) Eastern.

Topic

What’s good in the orchestra field right now.

Where

Does your orchestra have a good news story to tell that’s worth me mentioning on Sunday’s program? If so, send me a note and tell me all about it. If it beats the ones above on deck, then I’ll rotate you into the mix.

About 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.

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