Should Orchestra Musicians Leave The AFM?
Wed, Jun 6, 2010
by Drew McManus
Yesterday’s post on the recommendation by the American Federation of Musicians’ (AFM) International Executive Board (IEB) to give officers an unaudited $10,000 discretionary spending account has generated a considerable amount of feedback throughout social network sites and private email messages. One item that repeatedly pops up is whether or not orchestra musicians would be better
Things That Make You Go Buh?!? AFM Leadership
Tue, Jun 6, 2010
by Drew McManus
What do you call a $10,000 discretionary spending account over and above existing annual compensation, travel expenses, and departmental budgets? Oh, and did I mention that each executive with the mad money privileges will not be required to make an accounting of what or how they spend those funds. If you’re the current leadership of
Happy Memorial Day
Sun, May 5, 2010
by Drew McManus
Whether you’re home enjoying the day with family and friends or your orchestra is putting on a performance today, try to take a few moments to remember the reason for the holiday. Also remember that the single largest employer of full-time professional musicians is the United States Armed Forces and get this: the Armed Forces
Who Else Doesn’t Like To Wait?
Fri, May 5, 2010
by Drew McManus
The good news is you don’t have to wait until June 7 for the 2010 Orchestra Compensation Reports; they’re available right now at Adaptistration Premium. The great news is the new and improved data management tables that were designed especially for the compensation info are in place and fully operational. There is no bad news.
Michael Kaiser Couldn’t Be More Right
Thu, May 5, 2010
by Drew McManus
I have to fess up and admit that I haven’t been keeping up with Michael Kaiser’s blog at Huffington Post even though I know it would be for the best. But that’s been turning around as I’ve been wading through Michael’s archives and one item that caught my attention was a post from 1/4/2010 titled
More On Louisville’s Resource Center
Wed, May 5, 2010
by Drew McManus
Since January of this year, we’ve examined the Louisville Orchestra’s idea to increase local demand by way of building a resource center. The first instance came via my real-time blogging from the American Orchestra Summit and later, Louisville Orchestra’s CEO, Rob Birman, provided much more detail as part of his 2010 Take A Friend To
Tasty Transparency Treats
Tue, May 5, 2010
by Drew McManus
The 2010 Orchestra Compensation Reports are only two weeks away but that doesn’t mean you can’t get in on some of the data goodies ahead of time. Following in the successful footsteps of the 2009 Orchestra Website Report pre-publication tweets, I’ll be tweeting an ongoing string of compensation review tidbits along with a number of
Charleston Musicians Reject Latest Contract Offer
Mon, May 5, 2010
by Drew McManus
Since cancelling the end of their 2009/10 series, the Charleston Symphony Orchestra (CSO) has been negotiating with their musicians with the goal of securing an interim collective bargaining agreement while the organization engages in what it calls a restructuring of its organizational and operating model. The latest waypoint in that process took place on 5/20/2010
I’ll Have What Mortier’s Having
Fri, May 5, 2010
by Drew McManus
Did you catch the 5/20/2010 edition of Bloomberg where Phillip Boroff reported that the New York City Opera paid Gerard Mortier a $335,000 severance package even though he never took over as the full time General Manager? Moreover, Boroff reports that Mortier regularly flew first-class on Air France for City Opera business. Granted, Mortier certainly
Don’t Let Anyone Else In On This
Thu, May 5, 2010
by Drew McManus
Wouldn’t it be grand to have a crystal ball to provide glimpses into the economic future for our respective communities? If so, we could get a leg up on where to cultivate future board members and better position ourselves for Boom and bust cycles. Alas, nothing like that exists but I can offer up the
