Music Directors

What Role Do Music Directors Play In Determining Overscale?

Published on Mon, Jan 07, 19 at 2:00 am CST | Updated on Sun, Jan 06, 19 at 5:11 pm CST by Drew McManus

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 …

#TBT A Messy Mystique Of Our Own Design

Published on Thu, Mar 15, 18 at 2:00 am CST | Updated on Wed, Mar 14, 18 at 3:01 pm CST by Drew McManus

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 …

Commentary: It’s Time To Begin Clawing Back Compensation

Published on Wed, Feb 28, 18 at 2:00 am CST | Updated on Tue, Feb 27, 18 at 7:39 pm CST by Drew McManus

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 …

Might Makes Right: A Predator’s Paradise (Update: Met Suspends Levine)

Published on Mon, Dec 04, 17 at 2:00 am CST | Updated on Mon, Dec 04, 17 at 1:51 pm CST by Drew McManus

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 …

The Oregon Bach Festival’s PR Crisis Just Got Weird

Published on Fri, Nov 17, 17 at 2:00 am CST | Updated on Fri, Nov 17, 17 at 12:17 am CST by Drew McManus

Just when you thought things were settling into the “quietly fade away” phase, the Oregon Bach Festival’s (OBF) public relations crisis flared right back up. The latest outbreak surrounds a document obtained as part of a public records request from Eugene Weekly. The 11/14/2017 edition of the Eugene Weekly published an article by Bob Keefer which reports the contents of the letter suggest former artistic director Matthew Halls was being investigated …

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