Drew McManus on the Orchestra business | est. 2003

National Symphony Orchestra

Why The “If You Aren’t Playing, We Aren’t Paying” Rationale Just Doesn’t Work

Tue, Mar 3, 2020
by Drew McManus
As coronavirus shutdowns continue, we’re seeing some genuinely positive interaction between employers and musician employees working toward mutually agreeable solutions to the sensitive issue of payroll. Outside of those scenarios, I’m seeing one of the most derogatory old-school stereotypes emerge as justification for cancelling musician pay entirely: musicians only work 20 hours per week. This
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Why Yes, Ben Folds Is All Kinds Of Cool

Mon, Feb 2, 2020
by Drew McManus
Adaptistration People 188
We’ve taken a look at singer/songwriter Ben Folds’ work within the live orchestra field a few times over the years and his recent work with the National Symphony Orchestra (NSO) was the focus of a Fox News Power Player segment on 2/16/2020. Folds, who serves as an Artistic Advisor at the NSO, has always been
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Top-Tier Musician Compensation 2019

Fri, May 5, 2019
by Drew McManus
It’s time to revisit base musician compensation levels at the top eight highest paying orchestras. For a number of these orchestras, the 2018/19 season marks the end of their existing collective bargaining agreement (CBA). In each of those instances, the outcomes will have a large impact on what many orchestra musicians consider their organization’s ability
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Top-Tier Musician Compensation 2018

Fri, May 5, 2018
by Drew McManus
It’s time to revisit base musician compensation levels at the top eight highest paying orchestras. For a number of these orchestras, the 2017/18 season marks the end of their existing collective bargaining agreement (CBA) and they have yet to ratify a new contract. In each of those instances, the outcomes will have a large impact
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Negotiation Update 2016

Tue, Sep 9, 2016
by Drew McManus
Adaptistration People 079
Most professional orchestra collective bargaining agreements expire during the summer months and since the economic downturn, it is increasingly common to see groups continue negotiating past the current agreement’s expiration date. A decade ago, that used be cause for alarm but in today’s environment, it is practically standard operating procedure assuming groups don’t manage to
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Adaptistration by Drew McManus LLC is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International.
Permissions beyond the scope of this license may be available at https://adaptistration.com/about/terms-of-use-and-permissions/.

PROFESSIONAL DISCLOSURE

Given the author’s position as an arts consultant and technology provider, he does not publish articles examining or focusing on current clients without first obtaining the client’s written permission.

EDITORIAL COMMITMENT

In order to ensure accuracy and provide a comprehensive perspective on any topic, I allow any individual or person officially representing an organization that appears in any Adaptistration article to submit a response which will be published, unedited. Responses are limited to 200 words and must address the issues at hand and the individuals and/or organizations must also be willing to maintain an open dialog for continued discussion.