Conductor as CEO, blog

We talk a lot about inclusion in the arts. Bring your whole self. Every voice matters. Diversity makes us stronger.

And then we hand people a script for how to fit in: We tell musicians to interpret a phrase the way it's always been interpreted. We reward those who absorb the culture quickly.

What we're actually celebrating isn't ...

Empowerment is the fifth pillar of SPACE — and the one most arts cultures find awkward to try.

The rehearsal goes well. The performance feels amazing. And we walk offstage waiting for something — some acknowledgement that what just happened mattered.

Then…silence.

At some point, we've learned to ca...

The musician that pulls off a concert after receiving parts two days before. The rehearsal that starts late, runs long, and somehow still produces something beautiful. The musician who plays through pain. We call this professionalism. We call it dedication. We call it “the life.”

What we don't call it is what...

Orchestral musicians are trained to believe compliance is the job. execute as instructed. We may have opinions about the music, but sharing them is just not part of the job.

But here's what that costs us:

Performance without ownership. People who are brilliant at executing and have no stake in the outcome. We leave an enormous amo...