Composition Matters

Jun 19 2006
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Drew McManus
Drew McManus

Musician, administrator, and cultural entrepreneur Drew McManus has been involved with every aspect of the nonprofit performing arts world. He has become one of the most unique individuals in this business who is equally respected by administrators, academics, board members, music directors, musicians, and union officials.

Mr. McManus is the author of the highly successful daily column Adaptistration ; the first and only weblog dedicated to issues impacting the business of orchestras. His articles have been quietly addressing taboo issues which have been slowly strangling the business while simultaneously providing answers that are moving the industry toward positive change. Mr. McManus is a conservatory trained musician from the Peabody Institute in Baltimore, MD. He holds degrees in tuba performance as well as performing on piano and conducting; in addition to a regular performance schedule, Mr. McManus is an avid arranger.

Mr. McManus is regularly quoted as an industry expert in international publications such as the New York Times, Washington Post, Chicago Tribune, La Scena Musicale, and the Melbourne Age. Mr. McManus has also been a featured guest on national radio programs such as NPR’s All Things Consideredand WNYC’s Soundcheck.

As the founder and president of the Gynecologic Cancer Fund, he has a singular understanding of nonprofit governance and retains six-figure development experience as an executive board officer. During its tenure, his charity returned over 85% of gross proceeds to its beneficiaries; the highest return of any 501(c) in the state of Maryland.

Currently, Mr. McManus works as a private consultant with a wide range of clients throughout the orchestra business. Recent appearances include being a featured presenter at the 2005 International Conference of Symphony and Opera Musicians (ICSOM) conference in San Diego, California and as a featured panelist at the 2006 Chamber Music America conference in New York, NY.

When he isn’t working 14 hour days, Mr. McManus spends time with his wife, avoids cutting off his fingers while pursing his love for woodworking, drinking way too much Starbucks coffee, and playing with his three cats; Carmen, Tosca, and Cody.

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Commissioning, acquiring, rehearsing, and performing new music are a complex processes within the typical orchestra. More often than not, when compared to traditional repertoire, new music is more expensive to produce, requires longer investments of rehearsal time, and is harder to sell to established audiences. Worse still is the inherent disconnect between the two groups of artists that are integral in creating new music: the composer and performer.

Within most orchestral organizations, it isn’t the composer or performer that has the greatest influence when brining new music to today’s audiences. As a result, musicians tend to feel disenfranchised when it comes to the process of bringing a piece of new music to the stage.

During a conversation about the process with a musician in a “Big 5” ensemble, he summed up an attitude which exists among many musicians I’ve talked to these days,

“I love performing new music but I get paid the same amount of money each week regardless of what we play. So tell me why should I care as much about playing new music when all it means for me is longer practice time at home, frustrating rehearsals, smaller attendance, and all the credit goes to our music director so they can go out and gets more guest conducting jobs?

When it’s all said and done, I feel like a cog in a wheel instead of an artist. To top it off, our management tries to make us look like the bad guys when we want to get paid for recording the new piece so composers and music directors can use it to their benefit. I don’t blame the composers over this but why should I care when I have such little vested interest in any of this?”

Why does the disconnect between orchestra musicians and composers exist? Does it need to be this way? In April, 2006, New Music Box conducted a discussion panel on the topic of new music which included two of our panelists for this event. One of the overriding themes from the New Music Box session was a strong desire to create stronger connections between orchestra musicians and composers.

Inspired by an article from Polyphnic.org contributor, Christian Woehr III, Nepotism to Amigo-ism – Can a composer enter an orchestra’s door without holding a conductor’s hand?, this Virtual Discussion Panel brings together composers and orchestra musicians to begin a dialogue that examines the issues behind these attitudes, explores non-traditional methods for increasing points of contact between the two groups, and finds conduits that increase the musician’s vested interest in performing more new music as well as augmenting the role of new music in orchestral repertoire.

Disclaimer: Opinions expressed by the panelists during the Polyphonic.org Negotiations VPD are those of the respective contributors and do not necessarily represent the opinion or position of any organization or association. Neither Polyphonic.org nor the VPD moderator has edited any of the panelist’s contributions. Any change which may appear in panelist’s contributions throughout the course of this VPD is at the request of the respective panelist.

About the author

Drew McManus
Drew McManus

Musician, administrator, and cultural entrepreneur Drew McManus has been involved with every aspect of the nonprofit performing arts world. He has become one of the most unique individuals in this business who is equally respected by administrators, academics, board members, music directors, musicians, and union officials.

Mr. McManus is the author of the highly successful daily column Adaptistration ; the first and only weblog dedicated to issues impacting the business of orchestras. His articles have been quietly addressing taboo issues which have been slowly strangling the business while simultaneously providing answers that are moving the industry toward positive change. Mr. McManus is a conservatory trained musician from the Peabody Institute in Baltimore, MD. He holds degrees in tuba performance as well as performing on piano and conducting; in addition to a regular performance schedule, Mr. McManus is an avid arranger.

Mr. McManus is regularly quoted as an industry expert in international publications such as the New York Times, Washington Post, Chicago Tribune, La Scena Musicale, and the Melbourne Age. Mr. McManus has also been a featured guest on national radio programs such as NPR’s All Things Consideredand WNYC’s Soundcheck.

As the founder and president of the Gynecologic Cancer Fund, he has a singular understanding of nonprofit governance and retains six-figure development experience as an executive board officer. During its tenure, his charity returned over 85% of gross proceeds to its beneficiaries; the highest return of any 501(c) in the state of Maryland.

Currently, Mr. McManus works as a private consultant with a wide range of clients throughout the orchestra business. Recent appearances include being a featured presenter at the 2005 International Conference of Symphony and Opera Musicians (ICSOM) conference in San Diego, California and as a featured panelist at the 2006 Chamber Music America conference in New York, NY.

When he isn’t working 14 hour days, Mr. McManus spends time with his wife, avoids cutting off his fingers while pursing his love for woodworking, drinking way too much Starbucks coffee, and playing with his three cats; Carmen, Tosca, and Cody.

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