Philadelphia; In Their Own Words
Mon, May 5, 2011
by Drew McManus
On 5/20/2011 Philadelphia Orchestra Association (POA) CEO and President Allison Vulgamore and Orchestra Musicians Committee chair and cellist John Koen joined WHYY host Marty Moss-Coane on Radio Times to discuss the future of the Philadelphia Orchestra. At nearly one hour (w/commercials) it’s a long program but the entire episode is available at the show’s archives…
Accountability: A Referendum On You
Mon, May 5, 2011
by Drew McManus
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
A Reply To Tony Woodcock
Fri, May 5, 2011
by Drew McManus
Per his blog post from 5/18/2011, it appears that New England Conservatory president Tony Woodcock has declined my invitation to employ a community engagement exercise in the form of a live public discussion to examine a number of the issues he has been writing about over recent weeks. He feels “this is a topic for
Into The Belly Of The Beast
Thu, May 5, 2011
by Drew McManus
The 5/16/2011 edition of the New York Times (NYT) published a superb article by Dan Wakin (with assistance from Michael Schwirtz and Kathryn Shattuck) which serves as a representative example of quality investigative reporting in the arts. The article dives into the seamy underbelly of foreign orchestra tours within the US…
Build An Elevator Speech You Can Be Proud Of
Wed, May 5, 2011
by Drew McManus
“So what exactly does an arts consultant do?” If I had a nickel for every time I heard that I probably wouldn’t have to be a consultant. That’s not a compliant mind you, but it is a reality for just about everyone in this field, administrator and artist alike. Consequently, it pays to have an
It's A Hit
Tue, May 5, 2011
by Drew McManus
A short post today as I’m under the weather but I wanted to point out that since it was launched a few weeks ago, Adaptistration Jobs has been a huge hit. Traffic has been steadily strong and according to the metrics, that’s due in part to a very strong showing via Twitter referrals (@AdaptiJobs)…
More Than Just Musically Bankrupt
Mon, May 5, 2011
by Drew McManus
Bill Eddins posted a fascinating article on 5/13/2011 over at Sticks and Drones that examines the potential domino effect impact of the Philadelphia Orchestra bankruptcy on all sorts of commonly found written agreements in the business…
Now Is The Spring Of Our Discontent
Fri, May 5, 2011
by Drew McManus
It seems that a number of folks throughout the culture blogging community are taking issue with what could perhaps best be described as the Chicken Little Think Tank, or the group of voices within the field that seem determined to convince all of us that resistance is futile. Apparently, these efforts have pushed some over
A Letter To Tony Woodcock
Thu, May 5, 2011
by Drew McManus
Dear Tony, I watched your appearance as a panelist on the WQXR American Orchestras: Endangered Species? program on 5/4/2011 and became concerned with what came across as a very aggressive and unproductive posture toward orchestra musicians and the basic system of collective representation not to mention the greater field as a whole…
Labor Relations And The Arts
Wed, May 5, 2011
by Drew McManus
I’ve had a number of requests for a copy of my TEDx presentation on labor relations and the arts so I wanted to take a moment today and post the slides along with the script. Since I used an iPad teleprompter app, the actual presentation was pretty much verbatim; as such, this should provide a
