Best. Retort. Ever.

I could sit and read the article published today by conductor Bill Eddins every hour, on the hour and not get tired of it. It is just that good. Eddins’ post is in response to one of the most egregious acts of an Emperor parading around in the buff in as long of a time as I can remember.

Initially, today’s post was going to address the imperial streaking, but Eddins says everything I wanted to say but with far more panache; so there’s no sense in serving up ground chuck when there’s filet mignon with your name on it. Bon appetit.

"I hear that every time you show up to work with an orchestra, people get fired." Those were the first words out of an executive's mouth after her board chair introduced us. That executive is now a dear colleague and friend but the day that consulting contract began with her orchestra, she was convinced I was a hatchet-man brought in by the board to clean house. I understand where the trepidation comes from as a great deal of my consulting and technology provider work for arts organizations involves due diligence, separating fact from fiction, interpreting spin, as well as performance review and oversight. So yes, sometimes that work results in one or two individuals "aggressively embracing career change" but far more often than not, it reinforces and clarifies exactly what works and why. In short, it doesn't matter if you know where all the bodies are buried if you can't keep your own clients out of the ground, and I'm fortunate enough to say that for more than 15 years, I've done exactly that for groups of all budget size from Qatar to Kathmandu. For fun, I write a daily blog about the orchestra business, provide a platform for arts insiders to speak their mind, keep track of what people in this business get paid, help write a satirical cartoon about orchestra life, and love a good coffee drink.

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