At 9:24 AM -0500 12/30/10, David W. Fenton wrote:
There seems to be a lot going on that wasn't in the cited articles.
There always is, and it's almost always power struggles and in-fighting.
Seems to me it would be better if arts organizations had a majority of artists instead of business people, as this whole thing smells like a scenario where the business types are dominating the decision making.
A balance is needed, and when that balance is skewed, that's when problems develop.
My father played in the Seattle Philharmonic (the community orchestra, not the union Seattle Symphony), and the Board was entirely orchestra members, and basically rubber stamped the conductor's wishes. When my mom became Board President, they invited some business types to join, and they brought with them not only new ideas about setting goals and promoting the orchestra but a "can-do" attitude of people who were used to setting realistic goals and seeing them accomplished.
I saw something very similar in the two seasons I worked for Disney. There was plenty of in-fighting and controversy at the preliminary-planning stage of any new project, but once the decisions were made the projects were done and done right: the artistic needs became primary. And I had to respect that, even if I'd prefer never again to hear "It's a Small World"!!
John -- John R. Howell, Assoc. Prof. of Music Virginia Tech Department of Music College of Liberal Arts & Human Sciences Blacksburg, Virginia, U.S.A. 24061-0240 Vox (540) 231-8411 Fax (540) 231-5034 (mailto:[email protected]) http://www.music.vt.edu/faculty/howell/howell.html "We never play anything the same way once." Shelly Manne's definition of jazz musicians. _______________________________________________ Finale mailing list [email protected] http://lists.shsu.edu/mailman/listinfo/finale
