Governance – Page 11 – Adaptistration

The Times (UK) Reports Some Rare Violins Are Fake. But You Already Knew That…

Tuesday, December 29th, 2015 by Drew McManus

The 12/28/2015 edition of The Times (UK) published an article by Hugo Rifkind that reports a third of rare violins within the $20,000 to $100,000 selling price range are fake. At least, that’s according to violin dealer, Florian Leonhard; but for long time Adaptistration readers, that news is more than a decade old. For those unaware, and this is an absolutely fascinating part of orchestra field history, back in 2004, the …

Philadelphia Dines At The Ida Know Buffet

Monday, November 23rd, 2015 by Drew McManus

The 11/21/15 edition of the Philadelphia Inquirer published an article by Peter Dobrin that paints a dreary picture for the Philadelphia Orchestra Association’s (POA) future. In short, and contrary to a stream of public relations messages from the POA to the contrary, the organization continues to struggle reversing the downward revenue spiral that prompted their 2011-2012 bankruptcy. In his routine style, Dobrin walks readers through the grim finances and does a …

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, …

Update from the Dayton Performing Arts Alliance

Wednesday, September 16th, 2015 by Paul Helfrich

The Dayton Performing Arts Alliance (DPAA) is now three years old. On July 1, we celebrated the third birthday for the historic merger of the Dayton Ballet, Dayton Opera, and Dayton Philharmonic Orchestra into one operating entity, the first and only merger of its kind in the United States. As we begin our fourth year as the DPAA, I’m pleased to have this opportunity to update Adaptistration readers on how we’re …

Let’s Put An End To The #SustainabilityMyth

Tuesday, May 19th, 2015 by Drew McManus

There are plenty of reasons to love Vu Le’s Nonprofit with Balls blog and one of the most compelling is his ability to speak the pain truth and help adjust perspective away from the cascade of chatter that floods our field; so much so, it ends up hijacking strategic thinking. Case in point, in Le’s post from 5/18/15, he cries foul on some of the prevailing sentiments purported by Foundations and …