Commentary – Page 62 – Adaptistration

Is It Morally Praiseworthy To Do The Right Thing For The Wrong Reasons? (spoiler alert: no)

Friday, September 18th, 2015 by Drew McManus

Transparency within the nonprofit performing arts field has always been a troubling issue, in short, most measures fall far short of where they need to be and the byproducts are a string of internal abuses, financial mismanagement, cronyism, and even embezzlement. So whenever calls for increased transparency are heard, it should be a welcome message but it seems that an exception to the rule is unfolding at Carnegie Hall. In this instance, …

What We Don’t Talk About When We Talk About Transforming The Field

Monday, August 17th, 2015 by Drew McManus

On 8/7/2015, Americans For The Arts published an article by Jason Tseng (h/t @YouveCottMail) titled What We Talk About When We Talk About Transforming The Field that introduces a frank conversation about disparity and arts funding. You should absolutely take the time to read the full piece as there are a number of superb ideas; having said that, the post falls victim to some equally profound failings often overlooked when talking …

Aaron Copland Composed The Score For A 1939 Suburbia Propaganda Film. Who Knew?

Tuesday, May 12th, 2015 by Drew McManus

The 5/9/2015 e-newsletter from Curbed.com included an article by Marni Epstein-Mervis about the ongoing propaganda war between proponents for suburban and urban lifestyles. One of the focal points in the article is a YouTube video of a 1939 film they assert “launched America’s debate about the suburbs” and although fascinating in its own right for a host of reasons, the item which came across like a ton of unexpected bricks is …

A Crisis Of Conscience Inside The AFM

Friday, April 10th, 2015 by Drew McManus

The topic of equal pay for equal work as applied to substitute musician wages has been an uphill examination over the past year. We began exploring the topic in the wake of the Minnesota Orchestra settlement that ended their season-killing lockout after learning the agreement failed to maintain wage parity for substitute musicians and even when the option of achieving parity through direct action was available, the musicians and their Local …

The Performance Simulator, Now With Realistic Backstage Ambiance!

Friday, March 27th, 2015 by Drew McManus

WQXR’s Conducting Business podcast with host Naomi Lewin and producer Brian Wise published an episode on 3/26/2015 that examines the Performance Simulator, a facility located at The Royal College of Music that claims to create performance-like conditions in the confines of a regular practice room. The goal, according to the program’s guest, Dr. Aaron Williamon, a professor of performance science at the Royal College of Music who helped to develop the …