Drew McManus on the orchestra business.
One of the more sensitive yet pressing topics inside the field is how orchestras should go about creating stronger ties with their community and what does and does not constitute meaningful outreach. To better understand, let’s look at what might be best defined as one of the least effective examples where an orchestra will run an event in what they define as an “underserved” community or neighborhood. That’s usually code for …
The 6/28/2016 edition of the Baltimore Sun published an article by Mary Carole McCauley that reports on a $1.2 million gift from Mark and Patricia Joseph which will be used to increase accessibility to existing Baltimore Symphony Orchestra (BSO) education efforts for students from low income schools. The gift is very straightforward in that the funds will be used to offset the $10 per student ticket price and related transportation costs. According …
More often than not, whenever we talk about outreach and making connections with our community, those conversations unfold in a very top-down prescribed manner, not unlike a list of boxes to tick off on a grant application. Although there are plenty of good conversations to have within those parameters, they tend shortchange meaningful grassroots efforts and we end up missing out on making sincere long-term connections. Case in point, Holly Mulcahy …
It never ceases to amaze just how much one can miss at any given concert event; especially when it comes to the perspective of concert-goers that haven’t grown up with musical training or steeped in the nuances of classical music culture. To that end, Chattanooga Symphony concertmaster and Neo Classical author, Holly Mulcahy, decided to walk a few miles in their shoes in order to answer questions and stay grounded (the …
With all the attention these days on orchestras needing to get out of their primary venue and into unconventional spaces it is easy to forget that this is not exactly a unique idea. In fact, it’s been around for a lot longer than most folks realize and a recent trip to a favorite historic stock photo site drove that point home in a way that only photographs can do. Case in …