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Orchestras and the union movement

Milwaukee is not quite equidistant from Madison and Detroit, but it does sit precisely on the line between them that a crow (or a Boeing) would fly. So it’s fitting that events in Detroit and Madison resonate so loudly with this member of the Milwaukee Symphony – an orchestra in the Rust Belt that’s had[…]

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Make Friends – Your Peers Are Your Best Resource

Think about it. It’s only human nature to recommend a friend for a job. Putting aside the fact that if you recommend him or her, he or she may reciprocate one day, it just feels good to help out a friend, provided they are a good fit for the job. Even though music is a […]

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The worst is yet to come

If you think that the Detroit Symphony labor dispute has been hard to watch, steel yourselves because the worst is yet to come. If the parties can’t find their way to a settlement in very short order, it will be even harder to watch the orchestra disintegrate. The recent “farewell” posting by the entire DSO[…]

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Bringing the violin to a huge new demographic

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Arts Entrepreneurship — Lack of Imagination, Lack of Chutzpah?

I will soon be teaching a new course called Arts Entrepreneurship here at Drexel.  I’ve been preparing for this on and off since last summer.  In addition to reviewing literature and current thinking on the topic I have been looking at offeri…

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Picking the meat off the carcass

Very, very sad: Heritage Global Partners has been selected by Chapter 7 Trustee, Richard Yanagi, to conduct a live auction of assets of the Honolulu Symphony. The Trustee’s Motion to engage Heritage Global Partners is currently subject to final approval from the United States Bankruptcy Court for the District of Hawaii. Following approval, the bulk[…]

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A Way to Move Forward

A few weeks ago I wrote a piece about the DSO’s stalemate and many people have since asked me to share my ideas about a possible new model that might reverse current trends and create sustainability. But before I do … Continue reading

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Don't try this at home

We’re having an interesting couple of weeks here in Wisconsin, as has been reported not only by the usual suspects but by the BBC and Al-Jazeera as well. Here was my favorite sign from my visit to Madison on Saturday: Today appeared a life lesson in the form of some frank talk by our Governor[…]

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WTF was that all about?

That’s also the punch line to a very funny story David Sedaris tells about a slug going door-to-door selling magazine subscriptions, but I digress. Sunday’s story in the Detroit News gave the distinct impression that the DSO management was prepared to: …move forward with a newly assembled group of players that would include only those[…]

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The Intertoobs can barely keep up with this story!

According to Drew McManus at Adaptistration, DSO management is claiming that, contrary to the most recent Detroit News article, they have no plans to hire replacements or to invite striking musicians to cross the picket line and return to a “newly assembled group of players”: Today’s article in The Detroit News by Lawrence Johnson, “DSO:[…]

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1
Orchestras and the union movement
2
Make Friends – Your Peers Are Your Best Resource
3
The worst is yet to come
4
Bringing the violin to a huge new demographic
5
Arts Entrepreneurship — Lack of Imagination, Lack of Chutzpah?
6
Picking the meat off the carcass
7
A Way to Move Forward
8
Don't try this at home
9
WTF was that all about?
10
The Intertoobs can barely keep up with this story!