This week the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra surprised some people by naming Stanley E. Romanstein its new president. The big news is that he has never led a performing arts organization. He spent the last nine years as president and CEO of the Minnesota Humanities Center. This bit of information was really not enough to catch my attention, but as I continued reading the article about him in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, I found his comments about the orchestra’s public image to be quite refreshing.
“Our artistic mission is strong and secure as it is,” he said. “But even internally, the ASO doesn’t have a strong brand. The essence of fund-raising is connecting your values with the values of the community. We’re a nonprofit, but we have to think like a revenue-generating organization.”
Having never lived in Atlanta, I can’t speak to the specifics of this assessment, but as a core principal of management, this is fantastic! There seems to be an old idea among orchestra managements that because the local orchestra is the only place that someone can hear the world’s greatest classical music, that the community will automatically attend the concerts and love the organization. Orchestras are still businesses! A little influence from the for-profit model is just what orchestras need – a reminder that they are selling a product and the more people who know about it and speak highly about it the better. During the recent economic downturn, many orchestras have done the opposite. They have reduced their artistic offerings and marketing budgets while leaning on their loyal subscribers and backers to reach deeper into their pockets.
Here are Mr. Romanstein’s comments about the long standing plan to build the Atlanta Symphony a new concert hall:
“It’s not an immediate priority. Can a hall increase our artistry and financial stability? That’s an old model of thinking.”
“We need to first fill the seats we have. We need to say clearly and concisely to the community what our values are. We have a great orchestra; now we need to fill in the infrastructure.”
I couldn’t agree more. I’ve been to their current hall. It’s not Carnegie, but its fine. Long term subscribers, philanthropists who want to put their name on something, and musicians looking for comfortable place to work are the only people who want new halls. New halls don’t increase audiences – its just a place to sit. They thought a new hall would be great in Philadelphia, and now the community longs for the the character of the old Academy of Music and is bothered by the sterile nature of the new place.
Mr. Romanstein is taking responsibility for building an expanded following for his organization, and it’s rare and refreshing to hear. Maybe the orchestra world needs a few more people who haven’t led performing arts organizations before.