Drew McManus on the Orchestra business | est. 2003

Expressing Your Concern To Interlochen

Sun, Dec 12, 2004
A great number of concerned Interlochen alumni and supporters have written asking me what I think they should do: "Should I write a letter? Should I make phone calls? Should I just keep quiet?"  As a result of those many requests, I have put together a contact list of the Interlochen Trustees and Alumni Council

Big News Regarding Same-Sex Marriage Benefits

Fri, Dec 12, 2004
I received a note from Alan Gordon, the National Executive Director for AGMA, about a significant development regarding their Health and Retirement Plan.  As of December 7th, 2004 the union adopted a provision that:

A Sad Day, The Passing Of Fred Fennell

Wed, Dec 12, 2004
In the morning of Tuesday, December 7th, 2004 music legend Fred Fennell passed away peacefully in his sleep at the age of 90.  For those who run around exclusively in orchestra circles you may not readily place Fred’s name with his achievements.

Blogs, Blogs Everywhere

Wed, Dec 12, 2004
In yesterday’s San Francisco Classical Voice, Lisa Hirsch published a great piece about the explosion of classical music blogs available today.  Not only is it a great reference of music related blogs (you’ll find Arts Journal blogs by Teachout, Sandow, yours truly, and Critical Conversation listed) but it does an equally great job of outlining

Root, Root, Root For The Home Team

Tue, Dec 12, 2004
Finding an extra special rallying point for your community to get involved with has always been a good move on the part of orchestras.  Although orchestras should always have a series of events to focus attention on them, having a big event is a good way to wake up the sleeping congregation and bring in

An Uphill Battle In Kansas City

Mon, Dec 12, 2004
An article in the 12/05/04 edition of the Kansas City Star by Paul Horsley reports that the city manager wants to move a proposed parking garage to location which would force patrons to traverse up a steep hill to get from the garage to the planned performing arts center (something elderly or disabled patrons would

Classical Disconnect

Mon, Dec 12, 2004
It’s no secret classical music isn’t part of the mainstream cultural consciousness, but it wasn’t always that way.  Where did things change?  How did a country with such a relatively short cultural history move from using traditional classical music as a benchmark for “legitimacy” to completely removing music as a cornerstone of cultural awareness? I

Contract? We Don’t Need No Stinkin’ Contract

Fri, Dec 12, 2004
What’s the best way to deal with a grievance? At the San Francisco Opera it seems they prefer to pretend they don’t exist.  However, the American Guild of Musical Artists (AGMA) has decided that after nearly five years and 31 grievances (and more on the way), it’s time to force the issue by going to

Post Concessionary Thoughts: Do’s And Don’ts

Thu, Dec 12, 2004
I quoted Sam Bergman in yesterday’s article as saying: “Agreeing to this contract was the right thing to do, simply because many of the messes that exist in our organization are not the fault of the current upper management team, which has been on the job for only a year. It seemed only logical to

More Details From The Minnesota Contract

Wed, Dec 12, 2004
The recently accepted contract at Minnesota has provided another concessionary end to a drawn out negotiations.  A recent article in the Star-Tribune by Michael Anthony outlines some of the contract’s results. The article reports that the players have accepted a wage freeze in the first year and a delayed final increase until the final six
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