Adaptistration: Orchestra Governance: Miscellaneous Parties

Mixed into this group of stakeholders are the American Symphony Orchestra League, consultants, "head hunters", volunteer associations, and private philanthropic organizations.

The American Symphony Orchestra League
(Taken from the www.symphony.org website) The American Symphony Orchestra League provides leadership and service to American orchestras while communicating to the public the value and importance of orchestras and the music they perform. The League links a national network of thousands of musicians, conductors, managers, board members, volunteers, staff members, and business partners, providing a wealth of services, information, and educational opportunities to its members.

Orchestras and individuals pay a membership fee to join the ASOL (a.k.a. the "League") and in turn are provided access to resource material, political lobbying, grant opportunities, and annual conferences. Although they provide membership to musicians, it is effectively designed for managers and music directors. Their "conventional wisdom" is rarely challenged and they vigorously attack outside criticism. This lack of self-evaluation and professional narcissism typically serve only to make matters within the business worse and unless the leadership of the League can steer the ship in a different course, it is doubtful whether the entire business can weather the new environment in which orchestras operate.

Much like the AFM, the League was founded on solid principals. Sadly, over time the League has grown into a largely authoritative organization with too many concerns for itself instead of serving its members. It has become an exclusive society that does not welcome outside opinions or change and as such its benchmark for measuring success has become unsuitable. Amid current criticism, the leadership of the League has continued to bury their collective heads in the sand and remain out of touch with the changing cultural climate.

Consultants
These individuals specialize in every field related to artistic administration in general and orchestra management in particular. There are entire firms dedicated to nothing but consulting and offering management training services for orchestras as well as individuals that hire themselves out to serve as "interim" executives. They can be paid to analyze an organization or to provide direct support for an individual project.

On the downside, greedy consultants can bleed an unsuspecting orchestra of much of their desperately need cash revenue. They are difficult to hold accountable for poorly delivered services and can intentionally mislead their clients for dubious objectives. On the positive side, they can offer some much needed outside perspective into an organization or provide a specific service for less cost than an orchestra would endure if they attempted to produce the project internally.

"Head Hunters"
Professionally known as Executive Recruiting Agencies, they are hired by orchestras to locate individuals for executive leadership positions. They are usually contracted by members of an orchestra board or Executive Director to screen candidates and present a list of qualified individuals for them to interview.

Unfortunately, "head hunters" can be out of touch and lack vision when screening applicants for executive positions. Given the fat that so many agencies have extraordinarily close ties to the ASOL they are, at times, guilty of having a conflict of interest concerning the applicants they present to an organization. Given the volume of business they attract and the lack of qualified candidates available, they are unable to adequately evaluate a candidate's previous work experience. In attempting to please the clients, they shy away from presenting candidates that occupy either end of the spectrum regarding experience and ability. What is left behind is the dull, middle of the road candidate that everyone can find something average to agree on.

Volunteer Associations
These groups of patrons and classical music enthusiasts offer their services to raise money and awareness for the orchestra. In some cases these organizations operate entirely outside the auspices of their respective orchestras and form their own nonprofit organization and in other cases they are supervised directly by a member of the administration. In many cases, these groups are as much internal social organizations as they are beneficial to an orchestra. Nevertheless, they typically work to keep patrons enthusiastic about the organization and give them a way to express their appreciation for the service the orchestra provides.

Private Philanthropic Organizations
They say money makes the world go round and in the world of orchestras the center of gravity is usually the funding they receive from private philanthropic organizations (a.k.a. "Foundations"). Over the decades, organizations such as the Ford Foundation have contributed hundreds of millions of dollars into American orchestras, helping them establish endowments, build performance venues, and develop artistic and non-artistic projects. They even conduct studies of the business with the aim helping it grow and adapt to the cultural environment

As with all things related to money, there are always stings attached. In the case of foundations, they typically insist that recipient orchestras meet very detailed parameters in order to receive funds. In recent times, much to the angst of the musicians' unions, foundations have even used their economic clout to instill changes in the internal culture of orchestral organizations and musicians associations.

Of all the issues related to their funding, one thing is certain; orchestras would not be where they are today without the money from foundations. Unless the American political climate grows to such a point that orchestras become mostly government funded, orchestras will continue to rely on a steady stream of philanthropic help to meet the financial gap between earned income and expenses.

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