Drew McManus on the Orchestra business | est. 2003

Columbus Board Prepares To Throw In The Towel

Fri, May 5, 2008
According to a Columbus Symphony Orchestra (CSO) press statement dated 5/8/08, the board of directors has cancelled both of the organization’s summer concert series, which have been a part of Columbus summers for more than 25 years. Furthermore, the statement asserts that "due to uncertainties surrounding the 2008-2009 season" the organization is deliberately not selling

Okay, Okay, Okay, I’ll Write About Muti

Thu, May 5, 2008
Riccardo Muti is scheduled to take over the Chicago Symphony Orchestra in 2010 and the cultural blogosphere is abuzz with commentary and since I don’t want to get another 40 odd email messages asking why I haven’t written anything about yet I decided to finally weigh-in. Frankly, I’m not certain why there is so much

Does This Violin Make Me Look Fat?

Wed, May 5, 2008
Can a passion for the perfect instrument become incapacitating? Holly Mulcahy examines the issue in her latest article at The Partial Observer, which serves as an excellent companion to the article Jason Heath just published over at Arts Addict about what string players go through to find the "perfect bow." On a related note, I’m

Travel Pay: Front And Center

Tue, May 5, 2008
Hot on the heels of a post about the impact of increased gas prices, the 5/1/2008 edition of The Isthmus-Madison published an article by Tom Laskin which reports on the current collective bargaining agreement negotiations between the Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra (WCO) and their musicians. One of the primary issues examined in the article is how

Inside The Arts Podcasts Have Arrived

Mon, May 5, 2008
After months of talking about it, the new series of Inside The Arts podcasts have arrived. The inaugural episode, entitled Battle Of The Brahms, is available at www.insidethearts.com/podcasts. Guest panelists Frank Babbitt, Collins Trier, and John Rosenkrans (all members of the Lyric Opera of Chicago Orchestra) do a brilliant job at demonstrating how to un-stuff

Too Much Of A Good Thing

Fri, May 5, 2008
Although this notice could be filed under "better late than never" I wanted to take a moment to point out an article which appeared at The Partial Observer at the beginning of April by Holly Mulcahy which examines the realities of numerous job openings in one orchestra. Holly does an excellent job of walking a

Because Shut Up, That’s Why!

Thu, May 5, 2008
Back in the beginning of April, 2008 Jason Heath (Arts Addict and Double Bass Blog author) and I recorded the first three episodes of Inside The Arts’ new series of podcasts and next Monday, the first episode from that session goes live. This inaugural series is a music review podcast where a panel of guests

The Internal Governance and Modernization Project

Wed, Apr 4, 2008
For the past season, I have had the pleasure of working with the Musicians of the Phoenix Symphony on a program dubbed the Internal Governance and Modernization Project. I published some early information about the project last summer but I wanted to take a moment to publish a few additional documents in advance of some detailed

Columbus Season To Continue Unabated

Tue, Apr 4, 2008
According to an April 28, 2008 press release issued by the Columbus Symphony Orchestra (CSO) board, the organization will not cut short any of the scheduled classical or pops concerts from now through May 31, 2008. This decision was reached during a board meeting following the unanimous decision by the musicians of the CSO to

Columbus Board Responds To Ratification Vote

Mon, Apr 4, 2008
On the heels of the unanimous decision by the musicians of the Columbus Symphony Orchestra (CSO) to reject the board’s last, best, and final negotiation offer Robert Trafford, Columbus Symphony Orchestra Board of Trustees Chair, issued a written response the following day…
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