An Insider’s Look Into Shop Talk

Ever since this blog launched in 2003, readers have always been more inclined to share thoughts via private email. Even though those exchanges regularly contain insightful content, their very nature prohibits public consumption. Nonetheless, guest blogger Chris Blair and I ended up having a fascinating exchange in the process of determining whether or not Chris would participate in this year’s guest blogging and ultimately, Chris decided that sharing the email exchange was in and of itself, a good guest author post… (more…)

Educating for the Orchestra of the Future

Anyone attending the League of American Orchestra’s recent conference in Atlanta was surely struck by the industry’s determination to adapt and change. At the opening “Orchestra R/Evolution” session, attendees were polled and not a single vote supported the status quo. Russell Willis Taylor general session keynote the next day, “There Are No Crises, Only Tough Decisions,” took the reverse approach, lecturing attendees ironically on the best strategies for going out of business and fast. (more…)

Better Not

Now that classical music organizations are dedicating themselves with renewed vigor to reaching new audiences and engaging existing ones, it is time to get rid of a longstanding rhetorical habit. One of the most common descriptive terms associated with classical music has become a scourge, and a seemingly innocuous point of semantics has profoundly affected the way this music is perceived by outsiders and appreciated by initiates. (more…)

Changes In The Model…Do We Need Revolution Or Evolution?

Sunday’s Charleston Post and Courier quotes a former board member of the Charleston Symphony as saying “The current business model has proven over 10 years not to be viable.” The recent travails and controversy at the Pasadena Symphony provoked a considerable amount of national discussion, including Terry Teachout asking, in The Wall Street Journal, “What, if anything, justifies the existence of a regional symphony orchestra in the 21st century?” (more…)

Does “The Model” Still Apply?

Yesterday I took a stab at describing the traditional concept of the “model” orchestra and today I ask whether this model still has validity in 2010; in doing so, I am going to make some sweeping generalizations. Please remember that, to a large extent, all orchestras are local—your orchestra is affected by and responds to the unique challenges and opportunities created by what is going on in your community. Also keep in mind that the orchestras I gave gotten to know well tend to be neither huge nor tiny; it may well be that trends are different on either extreme. (more…)

Is “The Model” Dead?

Recently it has felt like there are plenty of people out there suggesting that “the model” for how orchestras operate should be taken off life support and declared dead. This is followed by a call for orchestras to reinvent themselves as radically different (and often radically smaller) organizations. I don’t know that that this is a new phenomenon (remember “The orchestra is dead, long live the community of musicians”?). (more…)

It’s Not A One Size Fits All

Throughout my almost 23 years as a negotiator for the American Federation of Musicians Symphonic Services Division, I have listened to accusations by symphony managements and others that what we engage in is pattern bargaining. That is, if Orchestra A achieves something new in their contract, then B through Z orchestras must do likewise. Not true… (more…)

“Faulty Reasoning”

The 6/12/2010 edition of the Wall Street Journal published an article entitled “The Zero Option; Do regional orchestras still make artistic sense?” by renowned culture journalist Terry Teachout. I was planning on writing something about it but instead, I decided it would be better to reprint one of the reader comments to Teachout’s article… (more…)

Adaptistration: In Reverse

Kim Witman of the Wolf Trap Opera Company has organized a cross-blog event for today’s announcement of the WTOC 2010 season by doing guest blog posts and interviews in a few places across the blogosphere. Kim contributed a wonderful opera oriented essay during the 2007 Take A Friend To the Orchestra Opera initiative and her guest post today is a wonderful evolution of that idea… (more…)

Orchestral Acoustics 102: Orchestra vs. Hall

In a recent blog post, Washington Post music critic, Ann Midgette, posed questions concerning:

1. what influence a hall’s acoustic response has on orchestral performance technique, and
2. what effect the 1997 renovation of the Kennedy Center Concert Hall had in improving acoustics onstage and in the audience.

In response to the first, I can report conclusively that orchestras have great flexibility in adapting their playing to different environments. I offer a few anecdotal observations here supporting this contention and also comment on the effect of recent acoustical adjustments at Kennedy Center Concert Hall… (more…)

Accountability, Performance Reviews, and Planning

Welcome Back!  Yesterday, we talked about trying to raise money after the concerts are done.  Today I want to focus in on accountability, performance reviews, and tactical planning.

One topic I hear a lot about in the orchestra world is accountability.  In a very obvious way, musicians are accountable every time the orchestra plays.  They are held to extremely high standards; when they make a mistake, it’s often out there for everyone to hear. (more…)

Raising Money When The Concerts Are Done

Hello all!  I’d like to start by thanking Drew for inviting me to participate.  I’ve known Drew online for many years, going back to a series of animated but friendly discussions about Executive Director compensation right here at Adaptistration.  I was happy to meet Drew in person for the first time recently at the League of American Orchestras’ conference in Chicago. (more…)