A Momentary Respite In Minnesota
Mon, Feb 2, 2013
by Drew McManus
On Friday, 2/1/2013 the Minnesota Orchestra came together again to play as an ensemble under their music director, Osmo Vanska, for the first time since the lockout that has obliterated the 2012-13 season started. There are numerous reports about the sold-out and emotionally charged concert but after the applause, all that remains is the reality
NJSO And The Damage Control Two-Step
Fri, Feb 2, 2013
by Drew McManus
The beleaguered New Jersey Symphony Orchestra (NJSO) continues to deflect negative press following the Richard Dare scandal. After calling a press conference to officially release their 2013-14 season, NJSO spokespersons reportedly became agitated and short with reporters who, perhaps unsurprisingly, were inquiring about the Dare ordeal. Brian Wise from WQXR authored an article that was
Letter To The President On The Occasion of His Second Term
Thu, Jan 1, 2013
by Drew McManus
The President The White House 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue Washington, DC 20500 Dear President Obama, On the occasion of your first inauguration, I wrote to you with the request to consider building a bold program of cultural diplomacy as one answer to the problem of improving and maintaining international relations. In hindsight, I believe that we
Louisville Begins Patching The Gaps
Wed, Jan 1, 2013
by Drew McManus
The 1/28/2013 edition of the Louisville Courier-Journal published an article by Elizabeth Kramer that reports the Louisville Orchestra has named David Hyslop to serve as interim chief executive officer. There’s no mention of whether or not Hyslop’s contract is for any specific length of time or whether or not he’ll be performing the bulk of
What Would You Encourage President Obama To Do About The Arts?
Tue, Jan 1, 2013
by Drew McManus
My blogging colleague, Joe Patti, published a wonderful article on 1/23/2013 titled Letter To The President On The Occasion of His Second Term. I had originally planned to join Joe with a letter of my own but work has kept it in draft form but I am bound and determined to get it finalized and
What A Great Way To Bring In New Subscribers
Mon, Jan 1, 2013
by Drew McManus
There’s nothing quite like experiencing three shows of Bugs Bunny At The Symphony in the space of two days, which is precisely how I spent the past weekend here in Chicago. It was particularly fun to sit in the audience and take in all of the ambient chatter. There were no shortage of families with
Eliminate Password Fail Time Suck Once And For All
Fri, Jan 1, 2013
by Drew McManus
Unless you’re fortunate enough to work in an organization with a budget large enough to have one or more full time IT professionals, you’ve probably encountered this frustrating scenario at one point or another: Employee Smith either leaves or becomes unavailable with little or no notice. Smith was singlehandedly managing one or more password protected
Rare Instruments And Lawsuits Make It Into The Press Yet Again
Thu, Jan 1, 2013
by Drew McManus
I am up to my eyeballs in deadline work so just a very quick post today to point out an intriguing set of events unfolding in Texas centered around a violin,provenance, and authentication. A 1/22/2013 article by Robert Wilonsky at the Dallas News Arts Blog reports that a Dallas Symphony violinist has found himself facing a
Death And Transfiguration
Wed, Jan 1, 2013
by Drew McManus
Two items of note to point out today; first up is an article by Matthew Klein in 1/12/2013 edition of The Economist which provides an overview of some of the fiscal hot spots in the field right now. Next up is an article by Zachary Lewis published in the 1/19/2013 edition of the Cleveland Plain
Fixing Industrial Strength Unhappiness
Tue, Jan 1, 2013
by Drew McManus
There’s a terrific, if not sobering, report in the 1/13/2013 edition of The Chronicle of Philanthropy by Jennifer C. Berkshire (h/t Thomas Cott) which reports that more than half of VP level Development professionals would like to quit. One in four nonprofit leaders is so disappointed in fundraising at his or her organization that the
