#TBT Is There Such A Thing As Too Much Funding? (spoiler: yes)

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Joe Patti published a thought provoking piece at Butts In The Seats which examines the development of technology to support the arts, a topic near and dear to my own arts admin heart. The inspiration for his post came from the  Knight Prototype Fund awards announcement, a program I was keeping an eye on. Although the Knight Foundation has a good track record in supporting technology-based programs, they wouldn’t exactly rise …

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Time To Tame The Wild West Of Equal Pay

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I had the pleasure of being an on-air guest for a segment of KPCC 89.3’s AirTalk; lively and in-depth discussions of city news, politics, science, entertainment, the arts, and more, hosted by Larry Mantle. We talked about Elizabeth Rowe’s lawsuit and took a deeper dive into how individual agreements work along with some of the connected issues. You can listen to the segment online at AirTalk’s program page for this episode. …

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Don’t Forget To Hold Elected Officials Accountable For Their Position On The Arts

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Granted, there are no shortages of topics that inspire passions among voters in today’s political climate but it’s worth reminding everyone that you should take the time to explore a candidate’s arts policy. For some candidates, positions are well known such as Rep. Martha McSally (R-AZ), who is running to fill the Senate seat vacated by Republican Jeff Flake. If Rep. McSally’s name rings a bell, that’s because she has been …

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There’s A Reason Why You Pay Musicians

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The 6/27/2018 edition of the Boston Globe published an article by Malcom Gay that reports on what appears to be a sizeable purge of the all-volunteer Tanglewood Festival Chorus. Orchestra chorus’ have always occupied a peculiar stakeholder position inside the larger orchestra field. In many orchestras, chorus musicians are unpaid volunteers, which stands in stark contrast to their instrumental peers. That’s how the Boston Symphony’s Tanglewood Festival Chorus is structured so …

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Chicago Concertgoers Get A Dose Of Moody Muti

The Chicago Tribune and the Chicago Sun-Times published articles on 6/25/18 reporting on an incident at the Chicago Symphony Orchestra (CSO) that involved music director Riccardo Muti stopping a performance due to coughing. According to the Sun-Times report by Mitch Dudek, Muti “castigated the audience” while the Tribune article by Morgan Greene relayed audience reactions. But one common thread through both versions is Muti didn’t seem concerned about projecting his displeasure …

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