Happy Memorial Day!

Whether you’re home all day enjoying the holiday with family and friends or your orchestra is putting on a performance today, try to take a few moments to remember the reason for the holiday. Furthermore, take a moment to remember that the single largest employer of full-time professional musicians is the United States Armed Forces…

[ilink url=”http://www.usafband.com/” style=”tick”]The United States Air Force Band[/ilink]

[ilink url=”http://www.army.mil/armyband/” style=”tick”]The United States Army Band[/ilink]

[ilink url=”http://www.marineband.usmc.mil/” style=”tick”]“The Presidents Own” United States Marine Band[/ilink]

[ilink url=”http://www.navyband.navy.mil/” style=”tick”]The United States Navy Band[/ilink]

[ilink url=”http://www.uscg.mil/band/” style=”tick”]The United States Coast Guard Band[/ilink]

About Drew McManus

"I hear that every time you show up to work with an orchestra, people get fired." Those were the first words out of an executive's mouth after her board chair introduced us. That executive is now a dear colleague and friend but the day that consulting contract began with her orchestra, she was convinced I was a hatchet-man brought in by the board to clean house.

I understand where the trepidation comes from as a great deal of my consulting and technology provider work for arts organizations involves due diligence, separating fact from fiction, interpreting spin, as well as performance review and oversight. So yes, sometimes that work results in one or two individuals "aggressively embracing career change" but far more often than not, it reinforces and clarifies exactly what works and why.

In short, it doesn't matter if you know where all the bodies are buried if you can't keep your own clients out of the ground, and I'm fortunate enough to say that for more than 15 years, I've done exactly that for groups of all budget size from Qatar to Kathmandu.

For fun, I write a daily blog about the orchestra business, provide a platform for arts insiders to speak their mind, keep track of what people in this business get paid, help write a satirical cartoon about orchestra life, hack the arts, and love a good coffee drink.

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0 thoughts on “Happy Memorial Day!”

  1. And let’s not forget the 7th Army Symphony, a State Dept. propaganda outfit lasting about 10 years ’52-’62 in Europe, programming Bach, Beethoven, Brahms, Tchaikovsky, Gershwin, Copland, Creston, Barber, Menotti, just to name some of the music played. Unlike the service bands mostly stationed in DC with automatic sergeancy (petty officer), housing allowance, pension and medical benefits, the 7ASO were mostly drafted guys lucky enough to serve playing concerts for Europeans during the Korean War and after before returning to civilian life playing in professional orchestras. Only later did many of us realize how great an experience it was!

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