Drew McManus on the orchestra business.
Continuing from where things left off in Part 1, this installment will examine the new Concert Companion and ORBIT products in further detail. Both products are technology based solutions designed to help develop a new audience for live orchestral classical music. The Concert Companion is a proprietary palm driven device and ORBIT is a web based application; both products are designed to be used by any size orchestra. Concert Companion The …
After publishing Concert Companion or ORBIT Part 1 I received an email from Andrew Yarosh, Madison Symphony Orchestra’s Development Director. He was looking at the situation from a small orchestra point of view and that of a patron: It seems these tools are, in the best of all possible worlds (i.e. when all orchestras have sufficient funds to pursue their objectives) complementary. I’ve had a personal experience with the Concert Companion …
The idea behind long term planning requires an organization to look at their past, examine their present, and visualize their future. But what if your organization isn’t a single entity such as an orchestra? Is it possible for a loose confederation of individuals with a common tie to engage in long term planning? The Music Critics Association of North America and the National Arts Journalism Program at Columbia University hopes they’ll …
Last Sunday, the Baltimore Sun published an article by Paul Adams and Tim Smith which reports that in order to manage their planned $12 million deficit, the Baltimore Symphony is considering selling their performance venue; Meyerhoff Symphony Hall. According to the Sun article, here are the details for the plan: “Under the scenario presented, [a] new nonprofit subsidiary would pay $30 million for the Meyerhoff and pass the money – minus …
A few weeks ago I published an article at The Partial Observer about some of the ways classical music uses sex to sell itself. This week I’m following up on that idea by discussing the growing drug use debate (no, not that kind of drug use). The article, Performance Enhancing Drugs for Musicians?, will be available after 9:30AM EST. Today I’m off to Eastman and when I return we’ll see how …