THE BUSINESS OF ORCHESTRA

Written By: Renee J Piccitto- IRPO President, IRPO Secretary, IRPO Principal Flute and Piccolo, Director of Operations, MS Aerospace Systems Engineering Management

The chamber is filled with a soft, dim golden glow. I sink deep in my red velvet chair, commanding horns, and whirling strings exchange a euphonious dance that resonates through the hall. For music and performing arts lovers, nothing offers greater satisfaction than a night at the Orchestra. The audience experiences the end result of an orchestra’s planning and hard work, and generally it’s an easy gauge of success. How many attendees are in the audience? How does the orchestra sound? Is the orchestra entertaining and exciting? Does the orchestra bring passion and emotion out of the audience? Those are in fact the end results to a much more behind the scenes, detailed and logistical business, that is, the Orchestra.

Music is Business

Orchestra, whether for-profit, or not for a profit, is a business, and successful ones operate as such. Orchestras are managed by a Board of Directors that have to make many decisions, and take many actions to ensure an orchestra is successful. An orchestra is composed of many individuals, with many points of view, with all different life experiences. It is important that the orchestra has a strong leadership team, that can make sound decisions that are best for its members. Not everyone’s suggestion can be catered to, and the details below will exhibit why:

Personnel and Instrumentation

No matter if the musicians are paid or unpaid, their skill level, or expertise, every orchestra must have musicians and a conductor. An orchestra must decide if their personnel are volunteers or paid musicians. There are a number of other decisions that need to find resolution, for example: Do the volunteers pay an annual membership fee? Do they need to audition? What is the audition acceptance criteria? If the musicians are paid, how much is their salary and what are their responsibilities? How much does a principal player make in comparison to a supporting part player? How much will we compensate our conductor? What are the deliverables that the conductor is responsible for?

Music and Programming

Some orchestras have more than one conductor. Some have a Music Director and a Conductor. In some orchestras, the Conductor may be the Music Director. In every orchestra, the Conductor and/or Music Director, as well as a handful of other folks or a committee, need to make decisions on what music will be played, and the programming of each concert.

Once the music and programming has been decided, music needs to be distributed to its personnel. Typically, orchestras today have digital libraries as well as a master score in paper form. Some orchestras only distribute electronically to their personnel, others may make paper copies and distribute parts that way. Either way, typically the orchestra’s Librarian will be very busy, and will choose a few helpers to make music is disbursed accurately and quickly.

Another consideration of every orchestra is music copyright. Orchestra compositions can typically be purchased through publishers, and once purchased, the orchestra can perform the composition on stage. However, we live in the social media age, so assume just about every performance is recorded in some way shape or form, and recordings, and disbursement of recordings require additional considerations. In addition, many orchestras work with local arrangers. A local arranger may take an original composition, and arrange it for the orchestra to play. New or original arrangements pose another complicated consideration. Since the US Copyright Office is the governing body of every copyright, non-profits, and schools must follow the same rules as anyone else. There are many considerations with music.

Securing Dates

Securing dates for an orchestra’s performances are typically done for the following season, or following two seasons, during the current season, and it is extremely important to an overall successful season, because attendance is key. Securing dates of concerts or a concert series can become a challenge when working around holidays, or other event schedules. The first rule is to consider your audience. What will be a roadblock to your audience, attending that particular concert on that particular day? It is extremely important to be knowledgeable of your community, your time-frame, and your intended audience.

Another consideration when securing dates is the time between performances. The question to always consider is: will this time-frame yield enough rehearsal time to deliver an outstanding performance? Securing dates is much like successful project management.

Securing Venues

Securing a venue goes hand-in-hand with securing a date. A date may have been chosen for your concert; however, all of your preferred venues are already booked! Having strong vendor relationships, and early planning is essential for the success of any orchestra.

If an orchestra is established and funded enough to have their own facility, that orchestra will desire to travel to other locations and perform; therefore, the same rules apply.

Fundraising

Even non-profits must have funds. Orchestra is a business, and there are always expenses. Any smart business will spend wisely, and minimize expenses; however, there are unavoidable expenses. Maintenance on instruments, music, insurance, venues and many other expenses will surface. Some orchestras pay their Board or Administrative staff, because as you see, much work must happen for the orchestra to be successful. Some orchestras are for-profit and pay personnel. Funds must be raised by fundraising, donations, merchandise and ticket sales, advertising sales and others. Fundraising is a key to every orchestra’s success.

Growing Patrons and Audience

Much like any other business relying on client-growth, and orchestra isn’t successful unless its patrons and audience grows. Growing patrons and audience ensure future ticket sales. This will blossom donation growth, and credibility. Growing patrons and audience encompass strong relationship building and communication, as well as excellence in performance and successful date, venue, and program selection. Know your intended audience, recognize and cater to your intended audience.

Marketing Materials and Social Media

All orchestras need to get the word out! The current audience and patrons, as well as the future audience and patrons, need to know about the orchestra, and about concert dates, locations, and how to attend. Orchestra’s today need to understand marketing platforms, reach, web presence, PR, and especially how to effectively leverage social media. This isn’t for the faint of heart, and takes skill. The same business rules apply with marketing; minimize cost, and spend intelligently with trackable results. Web presence is not the same as leveraging social media. For example, setting up a Facebook page or Instagram account is not the same as having your own secure website, and owning and hosting your own domain. Again, know your audience, reach and frequency, so you understand how to target and expand.

Internal and External Communications

Any organization or business must effectively communicate with its internal team members, as well as with its external clients, vendors and partners, an orchestra operates no differently. Accepted forms of communication and frequency must be outlined. Communication must be clear and concise.

Relationship building internally and externally is key. Charismatic and relatable individuals should represent your orchestra, because the goal is to draw individuals in, not push them away.

Equipment

Orchestras will have a lot of equipment. Typically, music stands, audio and video systems, and percussion equipment will be owned by the orchestra, and considered assets. Some orchestras even house their own instrument inventory available for lease or rent. With equipment comes maintenance, insurance and movement logistics.

Concerts and performances require an Equipment Manager and crew, which are allocated individuals who can be trusted with the responsibility of safely moving equipment around. A careless mistake can be extremely costly.

Ticket Sales

Let’s face it, the orchestra will not hold a concert, if there isn’t an audience to play for. Some orchestras offer free admission, and others require purchased tickets for a fee. There are many considerations with ticket sales that involve much of the above topics. How many tickets can be sold, and the goal number in attendance is driven by the venue max capacity. If a venue only holds 50 people, the orchestra cannot sell 100 tickets. Over-sold concerts are a logistical nightmare, and can lead to upsetting and disappointing audience and patrons.

If tickets will be sold electronically, design, platform and secure payment are considered. If paper tickets are to be sold, Coordination and organization between paper and online need to be worked out, because again, an oversold concert can create problems. Paper tickets require design skill, and printing costs.

Established and funded orchestras will utilize marketing to sell tickets, but not every orchestra has the means to have a marketing budget. Therefore, every orchestra member should also become an expert salesperson, because the responsibility of selling tickets, is everyone’s.

Concert Preparation

There are many tasks and items associated with each concert or concert series that may not have been covered above. In some cases, décor and refreshments need to be arranged and organized, announcements, other printed materials, concert house staff and representatives, media coverage and much more.

Administration

Orchestra is a business. State and county requirements, annual filings, reports, financials, licenses, and any other renewal need to be managed by the Board and/or Administration. The behind-the-scenes administrative wok requires daily involvement, and organized planning around deadlines. The Board of Directors and/or Administration make decisions on where money can be spent, budgets, and important needs of the orchestra as a whole, while adhering to any enforced rule or regulation on multiple levels. The Board and/or Administration will also write internal documentation needed, for the management of members and/or personnel.

Process and Responsibility

Finally, all of the above require a highly detailed, yet straight-forward, and organized driven operations process, with delegated responsibility and accountability outlined. The business of orchestra should follow successful operations processes that have been already tested, implemented and validated by known successful organizations. Orchestra leadership should hold qualifications and experience in process and systems design, operations management, and executive leadership to effectively and successfully design and implement process.

Conclusion

Orchestra’s may seem cut and dry from the audience and spectator point of view; however, when you dissect each area at a micro level, the business is quite intricate. The business of orchestra is not for the faint of heart. The above will set apart the successful ones, and as they say, the show must go on!