Who’s Minding The Score?

It’s official, there is now a comic strip dedicated to the insanity we call the orchestra business. Who’s Minding The Score? will be published (more or less) every Sunday and you can keep track of the satirical goodness at: http://www.adaptistration.com/toons. The newest toon goes live this Sunday, 3/7/2010 and we’ll be adding supplementary content to the site on a regular basis over the next several months so make sure you stop by to see what’s new… (more…)

Every Veiled Insult Conceals A Shit-Eating Grin

One of the real challenges of communicating solely though print is the inability to rely on body language or inflection to convey intent. Case in point, in his Huffington Post article from 2/16/2010 Michael Kaiser writes that he is sorry for causing any arts manager grief if their institutional stakeholders pushed back against proposed artistic cuts using Kaiser’s mantra that fiscal health and large, important artistic projects are not mutually exclusive… (more…)

San Antonio Announces New Music Director SPOILER!

The San Antonio Symphony (SAS) plans on announcing their new music director today at 10:30am CT but one of Adaptistration’s moles inside the organization has gone to great lengths to leak the name in advance of the announcement. As is the trend, the SAS opted for a young conductor; someone with boundless energy who isn’t afraid to teeter on a ledge to get the most out of ensemble. Adaptistration has obtained confidential video of the young dynamo in action. Read on for the spoiler announcement… (more…)

Financial Crisis In The Board Room!!

There are few emotions as powerful as the urge to blame, but that doesn’t mean it can’t be funny. Mel Brooks, a master at disarming animosity through humor, once said “Bad taste is simply saying the truth before it should be said” and if you take a long hard look at some of the things we do in this business (all of us) you begin to see that we’re ripe for satire. After all, if we can’t laugh at ourselves then, well, you know the rest. So enjoy this orchestra cartoon sneak peek…

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Secret Lives Of Great Composers

You have to love serendipity. A few months ago, I came across a new release in my neighborhood book store, Secret Lives of Great Composers: What Your Teachers Never Told You About the World’s Musical Masters by Elizabeth Lunday. I spent a good 20 minutes reading the book and was going to buy a copy but unfortunately, I didn’t have my wallet. Not two days later I get an email from Melissa Monachello, the Publicity Manager for Quirk Books (Ms. Lunday’s publisher) offering a review copy of the book… (more…)

Here It Is, Your Moment Of Holiday Zen

You know it, you love, it, and it just isn’t the holiday season without it: The Messiah Organist On Crack. If this holiday classic is new to you, give it moment and hang in there until the end; I’m sure you’ll agree that it’s 0:43 of unfiltered Messiah goodness.

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Holiday Extremes Meme Of Four

It has been awhile since a good meme of four has gone around the cultural blogosphere so in the spirit of the holiday season, let’s start one: The Holiday Extremes Meme Of Four. Although garden variety memes are always great fun, wouldn’t it be entertaining to toss a twist into the mix. To that end, this is a meme of extremes, meaning for each holiday topic, you list the four most enjoyable and four least enjoyable… (more…)

Don Draper’s Guide To Being A Music Director

Sometimes, the best things you can learn from Mad Men don’t actually come from the show. Case in point, Jon Hamm channeled his Mad Men character, Don Draper, to create a wildly entertaining spoof for his hosting appearance on Season 34, Episode 6 of Saturday Night Live. In a skit called Don Draper’s Guide To Picking Up Women, Hamm reveals his character’s secrets to success. Fortunately for this business, most of it translates nicely to ambitious music directors… (more…)

Next Time Try Something Besides Show Tunes

The Daily Show with Jon Stewart is always good for a smile and the 10/28/2009 show was no exception. Toward the beginning of the program, Stewart examined how “liberal protesters sing show tunes to pressure Harry Reid into putting the public option back into health care reform.” The segment includes a few clips from the actual protest where the protesters use music from Annie with their own lyrics to disrupt a health insurance convention… (more…)

It’s Called Satire

Perhaps the budget cuts have everyone on edge and granted, we all probably take ourselves a bit too seriously for our own good in this business but it was a bit surprising to see some of the feedback to the satirical news piece posted by Leonard Slatkin at his website on 9/23/2009 detailing some new “changes” in store at the Detroit Symphony… (more…)

The Funny Side Of Apathy

Ah, apathy. At times, it seems like the evil grease that keeps the gears of this business grinding but that doesn’t mean it can’t be entertaining. Case in point, fellow arts management blogger plank owner Andrew Taylor posted an article on 10/14/2009 pointing out the Bureau of Communication, a tongue-in-cheek organization on a mission to bring fill-in-the-blank business communication to the masses… (more…)

A Guide For Programming In The “New Economy”

Between reader suggestions following last week’s orchestra management Venn diagram and all the reactionary discussion about the “New Economy” throughout the business, I put together another Venn diagram illustrating the decision making process behind bean-counting programming. In a nutshell, if you’re an orchestra manager and this diagram strikes you as a useful tool, it might be time for a sabbatical (or to consider a new vocation)… (more…)