"Do Some Orchestras Exaggerate Their Financial Position For Negotiation Leverage?"

A blogging colleague sent me an email last week asking the question in today’s title: “Do some orchestras exaggerate their financial position for negotiation leverage?” The smart alec in me wanted to write back with the following single sentence response: “Does a bear blog in the woods?” But thankfully my conscience kicked in and reminded me that (fortunately) not everyone is so jaded and I shouldn’t be such a schmuck.

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“Do Some Orchestras Exaggerate Their Financial Position For Negotiation Leverage?”

A blogging colleague sent me an email last week asking the question in today’s title: “Do some orchestras exaggerate their financial position for negotiation leverage?” The smart alec in me wanted to write back with the following single sentence response: “Does a bear blog in the woods?” But thankfully my conscience kicked in and reminded me that (fortunately) not everyone is so jaded and I shouldn’t be such a schmuck.

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Oregon Symphony Leaves The League

The 1/4/2012 edition of The Oregonian published an article by David Stabler that examines the Oregon Symphony Orchestra’s (OSO) decision to cancel its membership in the League of American Orchestras (League). At the time this post was published, Stabler’s piece has picked up a good bit of social media juice with 107 Facebook recommendations and 59 tweets.

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The Trouble With Talking About Pensions

Although I don’t usually publish back to back articles linking out to posts elsewhere, there is another terrific contribution at Sticks And Drones you really need to read. But this one is from the blog’s co-author, conductor Ron Spigelman. His article addresses the enormously sensitive issue of pensions and ethical obligations.

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The Domino Theory, Orchestra Pension Style

The 12/1/2011 edition of the New York Times published an article by Dan Wakin and Mary Williams Walsh that examined the impact of the Philadelphia Orchestra’s (POA) withdrawal from the American Federation of Musicians and Employers Pension Fund (AFM-EPF). In case you’re coming into the situation without much knowledge, here are the highlights you need to get up to speed.

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