Drew McManus on the orchestra business.
No, this isn’t just another doom and gloom "the sky is falling" article, sorry to sucker you in with the headline. Instead, I want to take some time to look at the term "crisis" and create some perspective. "Crisis" is word that’s being thrown around right now in this industry. As a result, there’s a great deal of debate regarding what exactly constitutes as a crisis. Personally, I think the real …
Today’s Wisconsin State Journal featured an article by Anita Clark detailing the exceptionally large private gift by W. Jerome Frautschi to build the new Overture Center in Madison Wisconsin. The $205 million gift was presented by Frautschi because he simply believes that private money, not public funds, should pay for the new Performing Arts Center. This sort of philanthropy harkens back to the days of Andrew Carnegie and George Peabody, men …
I just want to direct your attention to the Columbus (OH) Symphony Musicians website today. The Columbus Symphony is another orchestra among the many financially troubled organizations across the country. I wanted to point out this particular website because it’s a very good example of how one side of a very tense labor negotiation should design an informative website. Unlike the garish, propaganda laden website published by the Philadelphia Orchestra Association (POA), the Columbus …
Although it was posted here on Arts Journal a few days ago, I wanted to mention that another small orchestra recently closed its doors forever: the Chamber Orchestra of Albuquerque has announced they will file for Chapter 7 bankruptcy. I don’t claim to know what impact the ensemble had on the local Albuquerque community, but I could see from their web site (I think it’s a very tasteful website, much nicer …
I just received word that the Philadelphia Orchestra musicians have posted a web site designed to offer their side of the negotiation story. I’m told that it’s a work in progress and new information is being added almost daily. You can find the new site at: http://www.philadelphiaorchestramusicians.org/ I also wanted to point out that I published an article at the Partial observer earlier this week. It is a reprint of an …