The latest issue of Senza Sordino, the International Conference of Symphony and Opera Musicians (ICSOM) newsletter, included an article from ICSOM chair, Bruce Ridge that I found intriguing. Ridge’s article, The New Apocalypticism, examines the impact of the economic downturn and how the orchestra business has responded. Written from his perspective as an orchestra musician and governance activist, Ridge refutes the notion (and subsequent buzz words) that we’re in a “new economy” and uses detailed historical perspective to support his position…
Finance
Raising Money When The Concerts Are Done
Hello all! I’d like to start by thanking Drew for inviting me to participate. I’ve known Drew online for many years, going back to a series of animated but friendly discussions about Executive Director compensation right here at Adaptistration. I was happy to meet Drew in person for the first time recently at the League of American Orchestras’ conference in Chicago.
Jargon Ahoy!
One of the more interesting byproducts of the League convention last week was the level of frustration among some managers over whether or not recent rounds of reductions in expenditures were temporary or fixed. According to most attendees I spoke with, there was a strong aversion to words like “restoration” and “temporary;” in fact, serious efforts were underway to begin crafting new jargon to avoid those terms…
Giving It All Up For Just A Little Bit More
The 5/17/2009 edition of the Chicago Tribune published an article by John von Rhein that takes a much broader look at orchestra employee expenses than most traditional media articles on the topic. Instead of focusing primarily on expense reduction initiatives focused squarely on orchestra musician salary cuts and those from administrators and staffers, he takes a closer look music directors and guest artists (conductors and soloists)…
Mixed Nuts: A Case Against Mergers
Andrew Taylor, Director of the Bolz Center for Arts Administration, an MBA degree program and research center in the University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Business, and long time arts blogging colleague posted a fascinating piece on May 7th that examines the potential for mergers in the nonprofit world. It focuses on mergers throughout the broader nonprofit world but when it comes to performing arts organizations, mergers are rarely a good idea…