Drew McManus on the orchestra business.
Now that the national election appears to be on in earnest, it’s time for arts advocacy groups and arts supporters to begin holding elected officials accountable for their position on the arts and arts funding. It’s no secret where the current administration stands on the arts: with its figurative shoe planted on its throat. Consequently, that choice should be self-evident. But there are plenty of other political races to watch, such …
About a year ago, I wrote a post about the trend of stuffing an increasing amount of duties and responsibilities into single positions. Spoiler: expectations, job advancement, job satisfaction, wages and benefits, and responsibilities are combining to create a particularly caustic work environment that burns out too many good managers. Since then, COVID-19 staff cuts have only exacerbated this trend. Every piece of distressing news about job cuts means remaining workers …
After 18 weeks of tracking responses, the ratio of overall under-employed and unemployed statuses among orchestra stakeholder groups continues to increase. Weekly Report Responses from Administrators continue to show a migration from those indicating being furloughed to fully laid off. The percentage of respondents indicating they are still working and being paid at regular full or part time rate is only 17 percent. Those working at reduced hours and pay comprise 30 …
The Seattle Symphony Orchestra (SSO) recently announced plans to begin performing live concerts via streaming platform as a cornerstone of 20/21 activity. If their county government engages Phase 4 of their reopening strategy during the season, they plan on introducing in-person audience live concerts. According to the SSO’s press statement, streamed performances will include guest artists although none were named. Programs will feature onstage performances with socially distanced Seattle Symphony musicians …
Granted, today’s #TBT post is only a few months old but the most recent batch of cancellation notices arriving in my inbox indicate we could all use take a breath and remember that modifiers matter. There are still far too many instances of adjectives and adverbs that project a defeatist attitude when messages should gravitate toward messages of hope and/or confidence. Choose Your Modifiers Carefully