Drew McManus on the Orchestra business | est. 2003

Dallas Symphony

In The Game Of Executive Musical Chairs, Philly Can’t Find Someone To Sit Down

Tue, Nov 11, 2017
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At a time when both the LA Philharmonic and the Dallas Symphony Orchestra announced new CEOs within the span of one day, the Philadelphia Orchestra continues to be vexed by finding someone to fill their top executive gig. On the other side of that coin, Philly may have pulled out the chair for one or

Throwback Thursday: Music Director Compensation

Thu, Apr 4, 2017
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We’re about two months away from the latest installment in the annual orchestra compensation reports so I thought it would be fun to take a quick look back at the music director installment from last year’s series. If you recall, this was one of the biggest bombshells in the entire series history in that it

2016 Orchestra Compensation Reports: Music Directors

Wed, Jun 6, 2016
Orchestra Compensation Reports 2016 Music Directors
If you were a music director (MD) during the 2013/14 season, odds are you generated pretty much the same amount of income as the previous season. Having said that, you may have also enjoyed one of the largest average increases in the past 15 years. Confused? Don’t worry, you should be as it was a

Dallas Ratifies A Two Year Agreement, Maintains Substitute Parity

Mon, Sep 9, 2015
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The latest group to settle from our list of mid to large budget orchestras with expired agreements is the Dallas Symphony Orchestra (DSO). Their two-year agreement contains three percent increases in base musician wages in each year along with a one-time $750 payment to each musician at the onset of the agreement’s term. And like

What’s Going On In Dallas?

Tue, Dec 12, 2014
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I’ve been out of the country for the last few days and therefore didn’t get a chance to read Michael Granberry’s article in the 11/29/2014 edition of the Dallas Morning News about the Dallas Symphony Orchestra (DSO) musicians expressing considerable concern over what is perhaps best characterized as a hostile work environment thanks to music