Crushing Classical

On today's Fireside Chat we had Sheree Allison, Executive Director of Big Brothers Big Sisters/Boys & Girls Club in Miramichi, an eastern Canadian community of 32,000 people. Sheree has done amazing work within her own nonprofit to take it from nearly shutting its doors and closing shop to a thriving nonprofit, doubling its annual budget in just over 2 years. Why does this matter to classical musicians? Well for one, when you work for a nonprofit (which is nearly every orchestra), how they're doing financially directly affects your income. So it matters a lot. Here are some key points from the chat: - How to know if the orchestra you're working for (or want to work for) is at risk financially - which could lead to strikes and lockouts as the worse case scenario (or pay cuts and pay freezes in the meantime)   - The one question every orchestra should be asking themselves in order to get to the root of the problems, financial or otherwise   - How to know if an orchestra's management is failing (and what to