Drew McManus has been hinting about good things in the wind for awhile now and finally let the cat out of the bag.
Drew is going to be doing a research project for Eastman School of Music’s Orchestra Musician Forum and Senior Editor of Special Projects for Polyphonic.org (coming April 2006).
His research project is going to address the issues which American orchestra musicians see as impacting their professional lives. The study will be used not only to improve conditions in orchestras, but also allow training programs to give their students the training and tools to cope with the realities of life as an orchestra musician.
What is really interesting is that the study is even being done at all, though there is clearly a need. I was thinking it was extraordinary that such a project be funded when I read Drew’s observation that:
Most sponsors prefer to direct their funds toward ‘solutions’ regardless if the issues are well defined or not. Directing resources toward identifying issues and developing questions isn’t a very sexy endeavor and this organization deserves a great deal of credit for understanding that without a strong foundation on which to build, any structure you put up may not be very sound.
To make this happen, Drew estimates he needs to interview 1,400 people from 90 orchestras so watch for a survey in the mail! This will probably be the biggest opportunity orchestra musicians have had a chance to speak out en mass since, well, I don’t know when. Unless they are on strike, you don’t see too many queries posed of multiple musicians on most any topic.
Congrats Drew. We will be watching and expecting great insights to emerge!