The Business of Orchestras

Positive, Yet Perilous Potentials of Musicians on Orchestra Board Committees

Mar 24 2006

“Unless musicians sit on the board, they’ll never have any influence in their organization.” A fashionable phrase among a noticeable segment of orchestra musicians today, but what impact will musicians on the board of directors or board committees accomplish. How much influence can one or two musicians have when most boards are comprised of anywhere from 20 to 200 members?

Then there are the issues surrounding representation, are musician board members representing their fellow musicians or are they there to express their own opinions. Even if the musicians have a clearly defined understanding of their presence on a board are the non-musician board members aware of those parameters or even agree with them?

Whether or not musicians should participate on their orchestra’s board is, at best, a sticky issue. Although there’s no universal answer one thing is certain: learning from other musicians who have a long sense of history in the business can shed a great deal of insight onto an otherwise murky subject. Milwaukee Symphony Bassist Roger Ruggeri fits that description perfectly and draws on his more than 45 years of experience (the last 12 of which have been spent as a musician representative to the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra board) to illuminate this discussion.

Mar 22 2006

Bruce Ridge, bassist with the North Carolina Symphony and President of ICSOM, served as the Chair of his orchestra’s Search committee when they were looking for a new Music Director. Bruce has agreed to share his expertise in this area, and to solicit articles from other orchestras with innovative Music Director Search stories to tell.

In this introductory article, Bruce explains the elements he believes are essential to a successful Music Director search, and describes the additional topics he plans to cover in his column.

Mar 21 2006

In this introductory article, Bruce explains the elements he believes are essential to a successful Music Director search, and describes the additional topics he plans to cover in his column.

Mar 21 2006

Chris Stager, a nationally-known consultant in audience development for the performing arts, has agreed to answer all those questions we musicians have about the proper way to market an orchestra. Is it a science or an art? Or a little bit of both?

His first column explains the difference between PR and Marketing, an often misunderstood distinction.

Please send in your marketing questions so that Chris can address them in a future column.

Mar 21 2006

Looking out at the audience during a performance and seeing lots of empty seats is a disheartening experience for any orchestral player. We’ve all heard that old adage about “the graying audience members,” but is it really so? Is there anything we as musicians can do to reverse this trend?

Tina Ward, a clarinetist with the Saint Louis Symphony, has been very active in her own orchestra as ICSOM delegate and has served on many orchestra committees. She was also an American Symphony Orchestra League (ASOL) Orchestra Management Fellow, which gives her a unique perspective on many aspects of orchestra life.

Tina offers her thoughts on what we musicians can do to improve the concert experience for the audience, in terms of employing audio-visual elements, making the concert more exciting for the audience, and enhancing the concert experience as a social event. Her lists of action items for orchestra musicians should instigate some lively conversations among your colleagues!

Positive, Yet Perilous Potentials of Musicians on Orchestra Board Committees

How to Hire a Boss

The Music Director Search

Marketing the Orchestra

Empty Seats – What Can We Do?