First an apology. In my first recent post about the Colorado Symphony, I mangled the link to my January post on that orchestra. Which you can find here.
And now a clarification, in case it’s needed.
I didn’t slam the Colorado Symphony, in my last post, because they’re high on any agenda I might have. They aren’t. But if you read what I posted last January, you’ll see that I was hopeful about the new direction they’d announced, both because they boldly stated what their problems were, and because they proposed some major changes. I hoped the changes might pan out for them.
But last week I read their business plan — which had stated both the problem and proposed solutions — and found it sadly wanting. So I thought I should mention that. Especially when one of the failures was really blatant. In January you publish a business plan, which among much else projects income you’ll be earning in the future — starting next season — from concerts in the summer, which you’ve never given before.
And then on March 8 you announce what’s going to happen next season, and summer concerts aren’t part of it. Which means your business plan may well be only words. You don’t seem to be putting it into action.
So, look. I’m not on the Colorado Symphony’s case. But since — because I thought I liked what they were doing — I’ve uncovered what looks like a major failure, I’ll offer this advice:
They should take the business plan off their website — right now.
And, as soon as they can, they should issue a statement what the status of the former plan might be — why they didn’t schedule the summer concerts that it called for, and what their plan is now.
If they don’t do these things…well, quite honestly, they look like fools.
My thought, for whatever it might be worth to them.
“concerts in the summer, which you’ve never given before…”???
I was Associate Conductor of the Colorado Symphony in 1994-96, and I assure you that I conducted numerous summer concerts.
Bad choice of words on my part. I should — more accurately — have said, “concerts in the summer, which you aren’t giving now.”
First an apology. In my first recent post about the Colorado Symphony, I mangled the link to my January post on that orchestra. Which you can find here. And now a clarification, in case it’s needed. I didn’t slam the Colorado Symphony, in my last post, because they’re high on any agenda I might have. They aren’t. But if you read what I posted last January, you’ll see that I was hopeful about the new direction they’d announced, both because they boldly stated what their problems were, and because they proposed some major changes.
I didn’t slam the Colorado Symphony, in my last post, because they’re high on any agenda I might have. They aren’t.
But if you read what I posted last January, which you can find here, you’ll see.
see what?
I’m puzzled, Josefina. You couldn’t read the full post? The sentence definitely continues.
I’ve learned from a post on our “Save the Colorado Symphony Web Site” that summer concerts ARE scheduled. Why they weren’t announced, or even that the concerts would take place, weren’t announced, I don’t know. But according to a member of the orchestra, summer concerts ARE on the schedule. That said, I still think that the CSO has been less than agressive in providing its base with regular updates on the progress of its business plan. I continue to be troubled by the lack of specificity moving forward. In an earlier post, I called their plan — in many respects — a plan to have a plan. And without that second level of planning — spelling out specifics and engaging community stakeholders — we don’t really know if there’s any ‘there’ there.