Oversight

Sailing Past The Crossroads In Salt Lake

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On March 18, 2005 I published an article titled Staring At The Crossroads In Salt Lake which examined the pitfalls associated with the process and subsequent decision to merge the Utah Symphony and Utah Opera organizations into what is now the Utah Symphony & Opera (US&O). Since the merger, the organization has been rocked with numerous financial, operational, and governance problems. In 2005, the US&O hired Tom Morris to conduct an …

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Are We There Met?

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Grinding The Gears
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In case you missed it (although I don’t know how that’s even possible), there’s been a substantial fuss over the past several weeks surrounding Peter Gelb, the general manager of the Metropolitan Opera (Met), and his public brush war against criticism. Gelb lost; and just in case he didn’t realize just how big of a loss it was, the King of All Culture Media, Alex Ross, authored an article for the 5/23/2012 edition of The New Yorker that spells it out in no uncertain terms.

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Accountability: A Referendum On You

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Last week was a abuzz with Philadelphia Orchestra Association (POA) bankruptcy news at the Philadelphia Inquirer. It published op-ed articles on 5/18/2011 about the POA’s bankruptcy decision from board chair Richard B. Worley and musician spokesperson and cellist John Koen. On 5/19/2011 classical music critic Peter Dobrin posted a commentary piece that cast reservations on the POA’s recent “Listen With Your Heart” campaign but perhaps the largest cause for concern came on 5/22/2011…

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Aspen’s No Confidence Vote. Now What?

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In the wake of Aspen Music Festival and School Corporation’s recent vote of no confidence, I’ve received a number of email queries asking about what votes of no confidence are, how they work, and why they are used. The prevailing question is “So what’s the purpose in taking a vote of no confidence if the results aren’t binding?”…

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Let The Thieving Begin!

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Thank goodness it has been awhile since the dirty little secret of just how easy it is for someone inside a nonprofit performing arts organization to misappropriate organizational funds has made headlines. And by misappropriate, I mean embezzle and by embezzle, I mean steal. Nonetheless, from across the Atlantic comes a report that the former Financial Director for the London Philharmonic Orchestra “siphoned off” just under US$1,000,000 over a period of four years. The indiscretion was brought to light after the organization executed an external audit…

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