Today was Bill Kling’s final day of work as President of Minnesota Public Radio, where he’s led the development of the largest and arguably the most successful public radio organization in the United States. Â His 44-year tenure has been marked by a series of bold, anticipatory moves that taken together more than earn him the […]
This consumer movement should help us
In a recent book and several articles (Huffington Post, Strategy+Business, Forbes, others – just Google “Spend Shift”), John Gerzema and Michael D’Antonio describe a new breed of consumers they’ve named “Spend Shifts.”  The co-authors say that the Spend Shift movement began before the Great Recession and consists of a large, diverse demographic group who “realize […]
Check out the proposals to change the deductibility of charitable gifts
In a previous post I wrote about a New York Times story detailing efforts that some in the federal government are exerting to help close the federal budget gap by changing the tax treatment of charitable giving. Â Beyond the revenue-raising potential of any curtailment of the charitable deduction, some policymakers are advocating for changes in […]
Things heat up at the League of American Orchestras’ conference
Yesterday morning, more than 800 delegates to the League of American Orchestras’ 2011 conference in Minneapolis-Saint Paul gathered for “Red Alert,” a 90+ minute plenary session that framed the critical issues facing American orchestras and proposed solutions. Â Jesse Rosen, the League’s president, began by putting a stake in the ground, stating that the current problems […]
Need to get more done? Maybe you need help
The May 2011 issue Harvard Business Review is dedicated to “How to Get More Done,” a topic that consumes a lot of us as we try to do more with less, while simultaneously pedaling uphill during our current recession.  There are a few good articles in the issue but the one that got me thinking is […]
New ways to think about solving intractable problems
Recently I had the good fortune to spend an afternoon with Peter Coleman, author of the forthcoming book, The Five Percent, Finding Solutions to Seemingly Impossible Conflicts (the link is to Amazon because you are going to want to buy this book). Coleman is the director of the International Center for International Cooperation and Conflict Resolution and […]
Celebrate rigor
At the Salzburg Global Seminar I wrote about in my most recent post we were fortunate to have a number of leading music educators from around the world as participants. Among them was Duffie Adelson, President of Chicago’s Merit School of Music, who spoke to us about that impressive school’s philosophy and results. In her talk […]
Salzburg manifesto: The value of music and the right to play
Last week I had the honor of serving as Co-Chair, with Nicholas Kenyon, of a session at the Salzburg Global Seminar titled, “Instrumental Value: The Transformative Power of Music.” Â Nearly 60 people from 23 countries traveled to Salzburg where we met for four days to discuss the ways that music contributes to individuals, societies and […]
Working to create demand
(This blog post was originally published on the NEA’s Art Works blog on March 16, 2011.) I thought it would be interesting to write about the efforts we have made at The Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra to increase demand for our classical music concerts. Chairman Landesman was quoted as saying that “demand is not going […]
Teaching how to learn
Last month I had the opportunity to spend a couple of days with senior educators from Interlochen Center for the Arts, where I am a board member. We were doing a deep dive into the ways teaching and learning are changing, given the immediate availability of information and ideas via digital devices in the classroom. I am […]