Drew McManus on the orchestra business.
Good news everybody, exploratory work for the Orchestra 990 Database Project is all done. The technical aspects are worked out and not only do we know it can be done, we also have a very firm idea of how much time and resources it will take; but there’s one thing that has us stumped so we need your help. Specifically, it is related to the Kickstarter campaign and here’s the part …
Perhaps unsurprisingly, most things are cyclical in nature so it should come as no surprise to see a resurgence of economic impact studies touting the economic benefits the arts bring to a metropolitan area. The 10/29/2013 edition of Philly.com published an article by Joseph N. DiStefano how the Avenue of the Arts is turning around a dying financial district. An AP article by Brett Zongker on 12/5/2013 reports that the U.S. …
There’s an intriguing discussion brewing in Portland, OR where Oregon Arts Watch executive editor, Barry Johnson, ran into a brick wall while attempting to verify the annual compensation for Oregon Symphony music director Carlos Kalmar. It started with an article by Johnson on 10/29/2013 that reported on the conductor’s contract being extended through June, 2018 which also referenced a corresponding compensation figure from Adaptistration’s 2013 Compensation Reports. According to Johnson, the …
Although the shutdown impacted hundreds of thousands of individuals in some of the worst ways possible, there’s one element that might be useful for helping bring about some positive movement in the entrenched Minnesota Orchestra Association (MOA) dispute. In particular, determining exactly how much money the MOA has on hand to continue operating during the lockout until they can no longer avoid the inevitable: liquidation. On the morning of 10/16/2013, barely …
Last Sunday, 116/2013, I had the pleasure of appearing on SoundNotion.tv and among the topics discussed were the value of transparency and the rise of the organized patron stakeholder group. On that topic, I gave the SoundNotion crew a head’s up about a new Kickstarter campaign I’ll be launching within the next month to raise funds for creating a new searchable orchestra 990 database. The segment where we discuss the project …