Drew McManus on the orchestra business.
Music Directors are like milk in that they both have expiration dates; or, at least, so goes the old joke. Fortunately for conductors, they have a much longer shelf life and statistically speaking, that runs anywhere from 10 to 12 years. That amount of time usually consists of 2-3 contract cycles and provides most music directors an opportunity to get through the bulk of desired repertoire. If the group was amid …
Who determines how much a musician earns in overscale, the part of a musician’s individual agreement that deals with extra wages paid over and above the minimums guaranteed by the collective bargaining agreement? Is it the CEO, music director, the board, a combination, or none of the above? If nothing else, Boston Symphony Orchestra (BSO) principal flute Elizabeth Rowe’s lawsuit alleging sex-based pay discrimination is providing ample pretext for learning more …
Read moreWhat Role Do Music Directors Play In Determining Overscale?
In the wake of the Metropolitan Opera’s PR disaster that is the James Levine disgrace, the field as a whole has a debt to pay with owning up to and dismantling the Maestro Mystique culture it worked to build and perpetuate over the last 70 years. There’s a superb article in the 3/13/18 edition of the New York Times by Zachary Woolfe that examines this very issue. For those unaware, conductors …
Read more#TBT A Messy Mystique Of Our Own Design
The 2/13/18 edition of the Indianapolis Business Journal has an article by Lindsey Erdody following up on an issue at the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra (ISO) involving a former principal musician’s lawsuit that alleged age discrimination and harassment. We examined that issue in March of 21017 when the news broke and according to the IBJ article, the ISO has settled with the musician and while the terms are undisclosed, we do know …
Read moreCommentary: It’s Time To Begin Clawing Back Compensation
Over the weekend, the New York Post published an article by Isabel Vincent and Melissa Klein that reports on a Lake Forest, IL police report that accuses conductor and Metropolitan Opera (Met) Music Director James Levine of alleged child molestation. A host of additional outlets followed up with their own accounts in the wake of the NY Post’s bombshell article. Update: The Met has formally suspended Levine and released additional details …
Read moreMight Makes Right: A Predator’s Paradise (Update: Met Suspends Levine)
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