Governance

Is It Possible To Manage A Large Budget Orchestra Using Mostly Consultants?

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Adaptistration Biz Guys

It certainly isn’t unheard of for larger budget orchestras to hire consultants for everything from temporarily filling staff holes to serving as the architect for marketing or development campaigns but relying on third party providers for the majority of admin functionality is decidedly not the norm. Nonetheless, that’s where the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra (BSO) is headed so if you’ve ever been curious about how that might work out, you may have …

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Kaiser Files Philly Orch Report. Zero Surprises.

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Adaptistration People 133

Back at the beginning of the 2015/16 season, the Philadelphia Orchestra was primed and ready for a major labor dispute but just when it seemed like things would get ugly, the Philadelphia Orchestra Association (POA) and the musicians agreed to a one-year agreement with the proviso that the orchestra would hire an independent consultant, former Kennedy Center CEO Michael Kaiser, to perform an institutional review (details). Shortly before the July 4th …

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Toronto Takes Strong Action To Avert Disaster

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Adaptistration People 034

The Toronto Symphony Orchestra (TSO) has seen its fair share of rough waters over the past few seasons. In 2015, they endured the Valentina Lisitsa firestorm and 2016 was pockmarked by way of the very public annulment legal battle between former president and CEO, Jeff Melanson, and his estranged wife, Eleanor McCain. According to an article by Martin Knelman in the 5/21/2016 edition of The Toronto Star, all of these high profile …

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Reinforcing The Ethical Significance Of Board Stewardship

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Adaptistration People 065

For those of you following the tragic circumstances at Healing Arts Initiative (HAI), this weekend uncovered news that casts an even darker tone to the already tragic situation. If you are new to the details, HAI’s former bookkeeper, Kim Williams, allegedly orchestrated an attack against the organization’s executive director, Rev. D. Alexandra Dyer, that materialized in an assailant throwing a cup of drain cleaner into Dyer’s face. According to police statements, …

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Avoiding Lawyer-Director Bear Traps

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Adaptistration People 157

There’s a superb post today at ArtsHacker, written by Joe Patti that examines problems that regularly fly under the radar related to board members who are also attorneys. The lawyer may be faced with serving dual conflicting roles, one as a lawyer providing legal advice and the other as a director with a duty to govern an organization. Perhaps the biggest consideration is attorney-client privilege. Don’t assume that any communication about …

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