Recently, I had the pleasure of talking to Joff Schmidt, Associate Producer of CBC Radio One’s Definitely Not The Opera (DNTO), about what it means to be a professional musician; or, more specifically, the difference between amateurs and professionals. You can almost smell the loaded questions with this topic, can’t you? Nonetheless, the discussion was great fun and the folks at DNTO ended up putting together a fascinating segment which you can listen to in the following audio clip…
Thinking Outside The Box (Seats That Is)
Or at least that’s the focus of Holly Mulcahy’s latest article at Neo Classical that proposes the notion that it might be time for orchestras to consider the long tail merits of a managed referral program to aid audience development efforts. Over the last several years, I’ve had discussions with colleagues and clients about this idea on and off and the response has been mostly chilly. We even examined the idea back in 2004 (read) and the response was more of the same; but then again, when you’re in a serious situation, it might be in your best interest to consider doing things that you might otherwise think are unacceptable…
News Of Phoenix’s Budget Troubles (sort of)
The 4/1/2009 edition of The Arizona Republic published an article by Jahna Berry that reported news about revenue woes at the Phoenix Symphony Orchestra (PSO). Unfortunately, the article is short on details although it does report about some revenue shortages. At the same time, there is mention of some cost cutting measures already enacted by the PSO…
Unleash Your Inner Maven
It’s April and that means it is officially Take A Friend To Orchestra month! Take A Friend To Orchestra, or TAFTO, features more than a dozen critics, bloggers, musicians, classical music enthusiasts, and administrators writing about how patrons throughout the country can invite friends who don’t regularly participate in live music events to a performance in their area. Essentially, TAFTO is an opportunity for the people who care the most about classical music to proactively participate and no, you won’t have to suffer through any fundraising pitches. This is much more fun…
“Thank You, Next!” Wait, Where Is Everyone?
Hot on the heels of the personnel drama at the Phoenix Symphony Orchestra (PSO), the organization has cancelled auditions scheduled for May, 2009 for three vacant positions. Earlier this week AFM Local 586, which represents the Musicians Phoenix Symphony, distributed a memo to orchestra musicians notifying them that due to concerns from fellow musicians, they have been in contact with the PSO to urge the organization to “either cancel May auditions or to notify each candidate of the possibility auditions may either be cancelled or no one hired, given the current fiscal situation.”…