In the Sunday, May 23rd edition of the Kansas City Star, music critic Paul Horsley wrote an excellent article entitled Decision Time.  It’s about how orchestras set about selecting a new music director and it focuses on the current music director search being undertaken by the Kansas City Symphony.  It’s a well written article that’s

A frequent reader sent an email pointing out an ambiguity from last Thursday’s article entitled The Downside Of Insufficient Communication.  They pointed out that I failed to mention that the Charleston Symphony orchestra musicians recently accepted a nearly 20% pay cut in order to help keep the orchestra’s finances stable. Although I did refer to

At the beginning of the week, Arts Journal featured an article at Tribnet.com, the Interactive Media Division of The Tacoma News Tribune.  The article, written by Jen Graves, details the disintegration in the seventeen year relationship between the Tacoma Symphony Orchestra and the Tacoma City Ballet. Here’s a quick synopsis of the situation: For 17

I’ve done my fair share of complaining on these pages about how difficult it is to obtain information from orchestra managers beyond the typical flow of propaganda style news from Marketing and Public Relations representatives.  Along these lines Art Journal recently featured a Letter to the Editor of the Charleston Post & Courier from the

I know, I know, by definition non-profits can’t have venture capital.  That unique form of financing that understands you may not turn a profit at first, but they have faith that one day your product or idea will and big.  These venture capitalists are usually investing in is a new idea or technology capable of

I was talking to some musicians the other day who are interested in starting a small chamber group.  They were asking me about my experience starting a chamber orchestra and the resulting non profit.  In particular, they wanted to know about funding; how to go about it and where to find grants.  So I told

I do more than my fair share of complaining about orchestra managers in these writings, but I certainly don’t think all managers are bad.  There are excellent managers out there and even a few warriors among an overwhelming flock of sheep.  But one thing that really gets me going is when I talk to orchestra

Last week I posted a Reader Response that stemmed from a reader’s email inquiry about what characteristics differentiate between who is a professional musician and who isn’t.  The article generated some interesting responses and a few additional questions.  “I believe any neologisms would just call attention to the whole dilemma rather than giving the affected

Frequent reader and theatre manager guru Joe Patti wrote in with some reflections on the Klaus Heymann Interview.  In particular, what struck him was the segment of the interview where Klaus suggests that arts administration programs should provide much more practical experience for their students.  But instead of just writing to me about it, he