Maybe Mendelssohn Just Inspires Violence
Tue, Sep 9, 2009
by Drew McManus
For my money, it doesn’t get much better than reading an account of Joe Patti attending an orchestra concert. For those who don’t know Joe, he’s the author of Butts In The Seats and a fellow arts manager who runs a presenting theater in Honolulu, HI. Joe posted a piece on 9/21/2009 that reviews his
Jeff Curnow Has Entered The Building
Mon, Sep 9, 2009
by Drew McManus
Today marks the launch of Inside The Arts’ newest feature, What’s Bothering Jeff? – a video series from Philadelphia Orchestra associate principal trumpet Jeff Curnow. The first installment entitled Confessions explores one trumpet player’s discovery of the mother of all nightmares. You can find the latest videos from What’s Bothering Jeff? right on the Inside
A Great Way To Test The Effectiveness Of Your Social Networks
Fri, Sep 9, 2009
by Drew McManus
Although I’ve been twittering away now for nearly one year, the fact is most of my tweets are auto-generated notices of my daily blog posts. Twitter has been a useful tool but one that never quite feels like it is being maximized; however, all that changed last week with the advent of Twitter shout-outs in
It Looks Like Utah Has A New Music Director
Thu, Sep 9, 2009
by Drew McManus
While conducting the 2009 Orchestra Website Reviews evaluations, I stumbled across a page at the Utah Symphony website that indicates their new music director is Swiss conductor Thierry Fischer. Fischer is currently the Principal Conductor of the BBC National Orchestra of Wales and Chief Conductor of the Nagoya Philharmonic. The official press release is available
And This Is Why Government Affairs Committees Are Important
Thu, Sep 9, 2009
by Drew McManus
In both of my most recent strategic planning and board development projects, I spent time working with each respective group developing support for the formation of a government affairs committee. It never ceases to amaze me just how few arts organizations have a standing government affairs committee and of those that do, how peripheral they
When It Rains, It Pours
Wed, Sep 9, 2009
by Drew McManus
Reports of heavy rain and floods aren’t the only news coming out of Atlanta. The 9/22/2009 edition of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution published an article by Pierre Ruhe that reports Atlanta Symphony Orchestra (ASO) president and CEO, Allison Vulgamore, announced she will not renew her contract after it expires in June, 2010…
Let The Ratings Begin!
Tue, Sep 9, 2009
by Drew McManus
The 2009 Orchestra Website Review reader review page is open for business. Here, you’ll be able to rate each website included in the review using a similar 5-star rating system like the one used by Amazon.com and if you wish to offer more in-depth observations, you can leave a review comment. Links to each website
The Dynamic Consequences Of Leadership Vacuum
Mon, Sep 9, 2009
by Drew McManus
It isn’t unusual for a music director search to last more than a year but eyebrows ascend when it takes that long to find a new CEO. No, there’s no double standard going on here and the reality is that it is much easier for a professional orchestra to appoint interim artistic leadership that can
Something Every Good Manager Knows
Fri, Sep 9, 2009
by Drew McManus
Earlier this week, the International Conference of Symphony and Opera Musicians (ICSOM) published a copy of the comments delivered to the American Federation of Musicians’ (AFM) International Executive Board (IEB) on 7/27/2009 by its chairman, Bruce Ridge. ICSOM describes the comments as “critical of the delayed and subverted process through which the President of the
2009 Orchestra Website Reviews: Reader Ratings
Thu, Sep 9, 2009
by Drew McManus
The basics. You can submit one star rating for each orchestra and leave an unlimited number of comment reviews. You do not need to leave a comment in order to submit a star rating but you are encouraged to do so. What criteria should I use to rate orchestra websites? There are no hard and
