Drew McManus on the Orchestra business | est. 2003

What You May Have Missed From The President’s Remarks On Vaccination Requirements

Mon, Sep 9, 2021
While news about the new Federal vaccination standards for businesses that employ 100 or more employees is welcome news for most nonprofit performing arts orgs, there are a few additional details in the President’s remarks from 9/9/21 that you may have missed but need to be aware of. Patron Mandates May Not Be Far Away

Solutions That Improve Conditions For Artists And Protect Their Interests

Fri, Sep 9, 2021
I would be remiss if I didn’t highlight a post from Joe Patti this week that includes a reminder from NEA director of the Office of Research & Analysis, Sunil Iyengar, about the need for arts organizations to remain focused on a post-Covid environment that strives for parity. Given that it’s all too easy to

Which Orchestra Has The Best 2021-2022 Slogan?

Thu, Sep 9, 2021
Even in non-pandemic times, coming up with a good slogan takes some work but I’ve been curious to see how groups are approaching this task as many are launching back into concert activity. Setting aside the gratuitous use of exclamation points, most are a variation of the following: [orchestra name] is back! The Music’s Back!

Because You Never Know When The Prince of Wales Will Come To Your Concert

Wed, Sep 9, 2021
While discussion about musician stage dress, especially tuxedos, is nothing new that doesn’t mean the topic is stale. For example, most know that tuxedos have been a part of orchestra musician attire for a century, but how long has the tuxedo itself been around and why did orchestras adopt it? That critical point gets overlooked

The Status Of Required Vaccination Policies Among Nonprofit Performing Arts Orgs

Tue, Sep 9, 2021
The  Vax Policy Database has been gathering data since August 20, 2021 and it’s been adding new records daily. Over the holiday weekend, I added additional view to the database making it easier to see exactly which organizations require all stakeholders to be vaccinated, which provide all stakeholders except ticket buyers, which only require artist

Happy Labor Day! Now Get Your Binge On

Mon, Sep 9, 2021
Take a moment to treat yourself today and get to learn about ins and outs of orchestra management from a humorous perspective by binge-reading all 157 episodes of  Who’s Minding The Score?, a satirical cartoon that provides a behind the scenes look orchestra life. It’s the ideal way to spend some of your Labor Day, really, just take

And Just Like That, Comments Are Back

Fri, Sep 9, 2021
I’m very happy to say that a new solution for comments presented itself in less time than I initially anticipated so as of today, comments are back! Here’s what you can expect: In order to leave a comment, you will need to log in using a valid Google account. This is to prevent anonymous comments

Look At That, A New Old Logo

Thu, Sep 9, 2021
Carnegie Hall unveiled a new logo and branding content and at a time when most groups seem to be looking forward, they did an about face to settle with a copy and paste of existing designs. For the full logo, they kept it simple and went with a text-only version that uses the same font

Sorting Out Religious Discrimination Vaccination Exemptions

Wed, Sep 9, 2021
Among the numerous details to work out when crafting required vaccination policies is when an employee cites religious objections and requests an exemption. Recently, the 8/30/21 edition of starnewsonline.com published an article by John Staton that reports on the Wilmington Symphony’s decision to deny a musician’s religious exemption to their required vaccination policy. The article

Hey, Where Did Comments Go?

Tue, Aug 8, 2021
Back in 2018, I replaced the native WordPress comment functionality with Facebook’s blog comment tool to eliminate anonymous comments and control spam. It worked great until last summer during the national election, when Facebook began making massive changes to their API in response to pressure over their lack of control over disinformation. Since then, the
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