In Richardson, To Tell Or Not To Tell (Again)

The recent conductor rant from the Richardson Symphony Orchestra that was caught on tape has produced an intriguing comment thread. One item that caught my attention was the notion that the group has been wrestling with their cash flow issues for some time and the decision as to whether or not this should be brought to public attention is one of the reasons for discord. As it turns out, this very topic was the source for one of my blog posts back in November, 2004…

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The Sound Of Fury

Have you ever wondered what labor trouble sounds like? Anyone in this business long enough likely has a story or two of inappropriate public behavior and/or actions on part of musicians and managers alike but these sorts of things usually remain in-house. But in the digital age you can bring the indoors out and that’s precisely what happened in the Richardson Symphony Orchestra as music director, Anshel Brusilow, was captured in an audio recording allegedly using rehearsal time to chastise the musicians and call one player out in particular over a labor action…

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To Tell Or Not To Tell

In Wednesday’s edition of the Dallas Morning News there was an article about the severe financial troubles of the Richardson Symphony Orchestra.  Unfortunately, there seems to be more than enough orchestras with financial trouble these days, but what caught my attention was that the writer, Kristine Hughes, reported in one of the opening paragraphs:

“[Richardson Symphony] Chairwoman Dalene Buhl and other members said they reluctantly agreed during a meeting Monday to take their plight to the public. They said they had feared current supporters would abandon the symphony if the situation seemed hopeless but at the same time didn’t want it to fold without a fight.”

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