From Band Booster to Symphony Director

[Rick Denney]

Thru a series of events too complex to describe at this moment, I will have an opportunity to interview for the position of Executive Director of a small regional symphony. I have a business background and know enough about classical music to be dangerous, and have great leadership skills. What I'm asking you all is for is a reality check - what does it take to be a really good executive director? What questions should I ask during the interview? Any other advice is much appreciated.

Tubamom

The following based on distant observation from a strong business perspective:

One thing it does NOT take is expertise on classical music, unless you have a hankering to manage the musical side of things. Best to leave that to the professionals, I would expect. The Board will let their opinions be known clearly enough, and I would probably try to avoid being between the Board and the Music Director if at all possible.

The Board sets musical direction and funding goals (usually with board members anteing up their share), and usually selects the Music Director and the Executive Director. The Music Director makes programming decisions, and seems to often be an equal to the Executive Director, at least in effect. The union contract usually stipulates the rules regarding the management of musician personnel, with little if any discretion on the part of the executive director. The executive director, therefore, is in charge of support staff personnel, payroll, accounting and books, tax records, fund-raising management, and facilities. Pretty much like any non-profit business. If you are good at motivating people to do their part, and you have an idea what their part is, you'll probably do fine.

Make sure they don't put you in the position of being responsible for things over which you have no authority. That seems to be more common than usual with non-profits.

Rick "who was once on an amateur orchestra board" Denney

[TonyTuba]

I would think outside the box. The orchestra world has to fight for its dollars, and the traditional ways of making money are becoming more difficult. Utilizing the local media for advertising, and finding ways to promote the orchestra thru schools and the public might help you get the gig. orchestras need to look forward to progress. Rick is correct, the an ED will be more on the business end of things. The ability to manage an office is a must, and I would imagine that working as a team with the artisitic staff would be important. I do feel it is an advantage for someone runinng an orchestra to know the difference between Schubert and Sorbet.

The toughest part to do is to remember that not only are you trying to promote and run an orchestra, but that this orchestra is a job for a lot of people, and orchestral musicians can be fickle. The ability to get the orchestra to be what you want it to be, as well as what they want it to be is a tough one indeed.

tony

[JB]

I've been a participant in the Knight Foundation "Magic of Music" project which deals with many of the formidable questions of orchestras in the US.You should contact them directly in Miami or contact our project leader Susan Miville at the Charlotte Symphony(704) 334-7035. The 2 main discoveries of the initiative were,1) solve the union problem and 2) if your music director doesn't live in your community, fire him immediately. For an executive, I believe the job should be to identify the mission of your core musicians , if you have say 35 who do most everything. It's certainly NOT to perpetuate the spread of 19th century classical European orchestral music. At this point I would refer you to Eric Booth of Julliard, who is doing outstanding work with the concept of artist-educator.Find, create , develop all things relevant to your OWN community/area that this collective of highly /overly trained musician/artist/educator/entertainer(s) can possess and share with your community. Hope you like fund raising..Good luck,sincerely, davemills

Interesting, and I had not heard of this foundation. Is there a website that one may visit to learn more about the Knight Foundation "Magic of Music" project?

Thanks

[MileMarkerZero]

what does it take to be a really good executive director?

I would suggest listing plate-twirling on your resume. J/K.

I think just bringing an attitude of improvement and fiduciary responsibility to the interview will go a long way. I would suggest doing some web searches on orchestras that have folded recently and those that are having financial problems (all or most of them), and see what happened and why.

Be clear that the musicians are the ones supplying the product, and will weigh heavily in every decision you make. The suggestion about following the Agreement is right on. Earn the musician's trust and then ask for variances only when there is no other option.

Just remember that, especially in non-profits, everybody has an agenda, and the varied agendas are not necessarily the best for the organization. As the leader, you will need to set the agenda for the orchestra's progress, and not let it get hi-jacked by others.