Drew McManus on the Orchestra business | est. 2003

National Symphony Orchestra

News Flash: Impending National Symphony CBA Terms

Mon, Sep 9, 2012
A source inside the National Symphony Orchestra (NSO) has provided details about the orchestra’s new collective bargaining agreement (CBA) that reinforce the observation that not all orchestras are suffering in the current economy. The NSO musicians conducted a ratification meeting the morning of 9/3/12, the same day the agreement was set to expire and although

Pushing The Sky Up In Boston

Wed, Oct 10, 2011
The Boston Symphony Orchestra (BSO) recently wrapped up a new three year collective bargaining agreement (CBA) that flies in the face of the Chicken Little Think Tank sky is falling doctrine. Normally, we wouldn’t spend time looking at what amounts to a typical contract with standard improvements but given the recent concessionary agreement in Philadelphia,

Is Philly Still Competitive? Let's Examine Some Numbers

Wed, Oct 10, 2011
Among the largest budget orchestras, one of the most competitive issues is the ability to attract and retain the very best talent and perhaps unsurprisingly, one of the primary components in that equation is base wages. So I thought it would be helpful to take a look at what sort of impact the recent Philadelphia

2010 Orchestra Website Review: Best & Worst Of

Fri, Oct 10, 2010
Wrapping up the US reviews for 2010 is the Best & Worst from this year’s review. The Best recognizes orchestras that made particularly large advancements in certain categories while the Worst examines organizations that could benefit from improving particularly damaging components and/or practices…

So No Hard Feelings Then?

Thu, Feb 2, 2010
When will folks learn that just because you give an interview in a non-English media outlet that doesn’t mean word won’t get back to the U.S.? The latest transgression instance comes from conductor Christoph Eschenbach who told Die Welt (English translation via Google) that he thinks the Philadelphia Orchestra management during his time there as