Well I’ve been overwhelmed with getting some work done on my taxes (the really bad part of being self employed you know what I mean if you’re self employed too), so I haven’t had as much time to spend on the blog.  But what I will do is take this opportunity to share some of

Recently I received an email Emily in Toronto in response to my about the special programs in Toronto and Nashville. She wanted to tell me about how the tsoundcheck program for the under 30 demographic at the Toronto Symphony has contributed to her involvement with the orchestra. I have been enjoying the tsoundcheck program for

It seems that using revenue from subscription ticket sales to pay current debts is finally becoming recognized as a bad business practice.  Back in November I wrote an article about this very issue and suggested that orchestras need to eliminate their dependence on future subscription sales to pay current debts.  I was pleased to read fellow

Is technology really a worthwhile investment for an orchestra?  Even with the potential savings in reduced operating costs and creating more efficient rehearsals, you still have to lay out some initial cash to realize that potential.  And if you talk to many orchestra managers these days, they probably aren’t excited about the idea of spending

In a move away from the typical heavy duty management topics usually discussed in this web log, I offer the following: While reading the article linked in Arts Journal’s main page yesterday about organists in the UK spicing up church services by working funny little tunes into the regular liturgical selections, I was reminded of

The past year has seen quite a few executive directors move around from one orchestra to the next.  So who’s been filling these jobs?  Mostly executives from other orchestras.  Here’s a quick break down of some of the shuffling (I would love to have the time to draw up a little graphic so you could

Third and final in this series of how technology can improve efficiency in an orchestra is using recording technology to its full potential.  Recordings are a touchy subject among many in the classical music industry.   With taboo topics such as aggressively enforced musician’s union regulations, the high costs of engineering the recording, the ever shrinking

Second in this series of how technology can improve the efficiency an industry that has been described as a “stagnant service industry that benefit[s] very little, in terms of productivity, from technological innovations” is the use of digital music.  This is decidedly a hot button topic for many involved in that element of the industry,

Due to the inherent separation between musicians and staff, most orchestras spend a great deal of resources (financial and time) distributing information to orchestra musicians and maintaining communication.  This occurs in the form of printing reams of paper for mailings, memos, schedules, maps, as well as hours and hours of labor to collate and prepare