Issue: August 2012
As ICSOM progresses through our 50th year, it seems only right to ponder where we have been and where we are headed. Beyond that, it’s important to ask ourselves why we have faced the struggles of the past and how that might or should inform and influence our future decisions. I claim neither originality nor completeness for any of my observations or analyses. They are undoubtedly influenced by … [Read more...]
Issue: August 2012
In San Antonio on June 8, the non-profit arts advocacy group Americans for the Arts released its new extensive study on the economic impact of the arts. Arts and Economic Prosperity IV is the first such comprehensive study done since the onset of the recession. While the numbers are down from the 2007 study (Arts and Economic Prosperity III), the new report demonstrates clearly that the non-profit … [Read more...]
Issue: August 2012
Life presents us with many challenges along the way. Sometimes it is the challenge to find the downbeat of an incompetent conductor. Sometimes it is the challenge to read the right notes on a Kalmus part or the challenge of finding a way to diplomatically tell the musician who’s playing the electronic cannon in 1812 to move the speaker without throttling him/her in the same process. But life … [Read more...]
Issue: August 2012
Title: Retirement Heist: How Companies Plunder and Profit from the Nest Eggs of American Workers Author: Ellen E. Schultz Publisher: Portfolio Hardcover Publication Date: September 15, 2011 ISBN: 978-1-59184-333-7 Hardcover: 256 pages While I was eager to delve into Ellen Schultz’s Retirement Heist, I was unprepared for how outraged I would become reading the introduction alone. Schultz’s … [Read more...]
Issue: August 2012
The San Diego Symphony knew that last year’s very successful centennial season would be hard to match, but the recently completed 2011–2012 season turned out to be its most successful year ever. Senior Director of Marketing Stephen Baker said that, subject to audit, the San Diego Symphony balanced its budget for the 14th consecutive year. Ticket sales reached an all-time high, with an increase of … [Read more...]
Issue: August 2012
The Major Orchestra Librarians’ Association (MOLA) celebrated its 30-year anniversary by holding its annual conference in New Orleans over the weekend of May 11–14. It seemed an obvious choice to dub this MOLA-NOLA 2012. (An earlier possibility, MOLA-NOLA XXX, seemed a bit risqué for such an eminent body.) MOLA was fortunate to have ICSOM Chairperson Bruce Ridge as the featured speaker for … [Read more...]
Issue: August 2012
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit has affirmed the July 2011 decision of the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) regarding the refusal of the Musical Arts Association (MAA) to bargain with the AFM over media issues. MAA, which operates the Cleveland Orchestra, had contended that two or more unions (in this case, the AFM and the Cleveland Federation of Musicians, … [Read more...]
