Michael Kaiser
The New York City Opera, urgently needing to stop the press-fed rumors that it might cease to exist after the sudden departure of Gerard Mortier, must have rushed right out to the bookstore to pick up Michael Kaiser‘s new book on “The Art of the Turnaround,” after reading about it yesterday in the NY Times. (Just kidding about the last part.)
They liked it so much that they engaged him to help “to identify new leadership and to craft a practical and
comprehensive plan for the 2009-2010 season and beyond—a plan that
respects City Opera’s past while initiating a creative and
entrepreneurial vision for the future,” as stated in the announcement posted on the company’s website.
Strangely, that announcement doesn’t identify Kaiser as president of the Kennedy Center, Washington’s counterpart to Lincoln Center where City Opera resides. It just calls him “one of America’s leading arts management advisors.” Maybe New York cultural institutions aren’t supposed to need help from officials at institutions outside the Cultural Capital.
One of Kaiser’s previous books is, “Understanding the Competition: A Practical Guide of Competitive Analysis.” Could he have an ulterior motive? He’s now going to understand Kennedy Center’s competition SO much better!