Very STATisfying! – part 1

It’s about Artistic excellence, We want to be the best orchestra this side of the…(insert iconic river or Great Lake here!), We’ve practiced, practiced, practiced…now we want to go to Carnegie Hall.  How many times do you hear how great an Executive and/or Music Director wants their orchestra to be, but what does great actually mean.  I contend that for an organization to be great it is others that need to bestow that adjective upon us, not ourselves.  After all Olympians never judge themselves.  I contend that the goal should always be Organizational Excellence, I want to share a stat…you be the judge….

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Cultural Trust – Redistributing Wealth Missouri Style!

So when we at the Springfield Symphony (Missouri’s 3rd largest Orchestra) read the news last week regarding the ruling against the Kansas City Symphony’s lawsuit to restore funds into the cultural trust that were not put in during a certain period as the legislature felt the money at that time was needed elsewhere, our reaction was : Oh that’s right they filed a lawsuit! We had forgotten about it. Arts funding in Missouri has risen the last two years….under a Republican governor! I have a little insight into what happened and some personal experience with the whole thing including some interaction with the governor….

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