When Brad Broecker recruited Rob Birman to join the Louisville Orchestra
management team last October, many of us suspected that an audition was
under way. After all, last month marked the conclusion of Brad’s
third season as volunteer executive director of an organization that had,
at the outset, been teetering on the edge of solvency for years. Characteristically,
Brad’s review of his time at the helm of the LO is humble and focuses
on the positive aspects of the experience. “My three years at the
Orchestra have been a joy,” he told me the day after the public
announcement of his decision to retire. “I have a whole bunch of
new friends – staff, players, board members – that I really
do cherish. The fact that they let me try all sorts of things was really
rewarding and I am grateful that some of them turned out to be good ideas,
I guess.”
Among his successes over the past three seasons, Brad can count the creation
of the L.O. WOW! and Strings Attached series and the stabilization of artistic
leadership in the persons of music director Jorge Mester, Principal Pops
Conductor Bob Bernhardt and Associate Conductor Jason Weinberger. Brad put
the final bolt into place of his management team with the hiring of Rob Birman
as COO. “Rob’s knowledge of orchestra leadership has brought
a new level of staff leadership stability,” Brad stated. “Our
marketing department, with the world’s most meager budget, has really
pulled together a wonderful marketing strategy and advertising campaign that
has us closer to being branded than ever before. The orchestra “business” is
always going to be fragile when it comes to finances. But doing a better
job at what we are here for makes the opportunity to grow our audiences better,
and this contributes to stability. Finally, I believe the public has bought
into some of the things we are trying to do and the image of the Orchestra
is one of success.”
I asked Brad what stars aligned to make this the most propitious time to pursue
new interests. “Basically, I was at a point where I didn’t want to
feel that I had an obligation to turn up at an office five days a week. I will
still be around to help the Orchestra with special projects if they need me.
But Music Theatre Louisville, StageOne and the Heuser Hearing Institute are also
passions of mine and I want to have more time for them as well. And then there
is our crazy garden at home that is begging for attention…and I want to
travel some more. There never was going to be a really good time, so I decided
that at the end of this season made the best sense.”
While Rob Birman was looking forward to working a while longer with one of Louisville’s
premiere showmen, he has the right credentials to take the helm as CEO of the
Louisville Orchestra. Prior to moving here, Rob and his wife were living in San
Francisco, where he was in charge of the Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra for seven
years. Before that, he had stints as the head of the Dubuque Symphony in Iowa,
a Harvard University chamber orchestra in Massachusetts and the Santa Barbara
Symphony in southern California.
SD: You were once an International Society of Performing
Arts Fellow as well as a National Endowment for the Arts Fellow. What are
the goals of these programs?
RB: The League selects people each year to be placed in
paid management intern-ships. They spend anywhere from eight to twelve months
with at least three different orchestras representing a small-, medium-
and large-budget operation.
SD: Other than the job experience, what is the biggest
advantage of those programs?
RB: It’s the network. You can do intern-ships
without being part of a program, but the national network of people you
are able to develop is very important.
SD: I don’t think people realize how really small
the orchestra world is, which is why the network you were describing is
so important. What did you gain from your experience in Miami?
RB: It was fascinating that I started the same day as their
second executive director. That’s only important because the founder,
Jeffrey Babcock, was the first executive director. So what I was able to
watch was their evolution out of the “founder’s phase” into
a more professional, competitive environment.
SD: You have been pretty busy since you left graduate school.
When did you find time to get married?
RB: I met my wife in Santa Barbara and we got married in
2006 while we were in her hometown of San Francisco.
SD: How did it come about that the two of you left California
for the wilds of Kentucky?
RB: The Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra in San Francisco
is an incredible, rarefied organization. It’s a period instrument
ensemble using authentic instruments from the 17th and 18th centuries. They
play all over the world and fly in musicians from all over for every concert.
While I was attending a conference in Denver, a colleague of mine, a “headhunter,” asked
if I would sit down and have a cup of coffee with a guy named Brad Broecker.
I told her I was glad to meet him but didn’t think I would be interested
in a number-two position.
SD: What did he say to change your mind?
RB: Everything Brad told me about Louisville and what he
was doing here sounded to be exactly the right thing. I was totally intrigued
by the challenges that existed here.
SD: Brad is certainly a charismatic and persuasive guy.
RB: The thing I like about Brad is the same thing everybody
likes: you get what you see. There is no posturing, and Brad was completely
open about the challenges here. I got hooked because I love strategy. My
contention is that the Louisville Orchestra doesn’t need a plan – it
needs a strategy. I am excited to be here working to make this organization
healthy.
SD: Brad gave very little public foreshadow-ing of his
decision to relinquish the throne. Were you as surprised as the rest of
us?
RB: I think most people knew that this was going to happen
eventually. We thought it would come a little later than it has. You have
to give Brad credit – he has done a Herculean job over the past three
years, all as a volunteer. While a little surprised by the rapidity of the
exchange, once Brad makes a decision he’s ready to act.
SD: I suppose this was part of your conversation in Denver?
RB: We did discuss the possibility that this would come
about some day – at the pleasure of the board, of course. Over the
past eight months I think I have established a great relationship with all
of the constituencies, and Brad felt comfortable that this was an opportune
time for him to focus on other passions in his life.
SD: Since your arrival, Brad has maintained his role as
impresario and visionary while you handled the day-to-day operations. Will
you hire someone to fill your position?
RB: That, unfortunately, is probably not in the cards because
of economics. One day it might be nice to have a general manager again,
or COO; but we don’t have the budgetary wherewithal to do that right
now.
SD: Tell me about your vision for the LO.
RB:I definitely have a vision, but I am willing to be patient
and the economy
demands that. Next year is completely set, and we are beginning work on
2010-11. Jorge and I are talking about some concepts we want to pursue
from an artistic standpoint. But my main concern is on strategy. My experience
leads me to think that the most important thing I can do right now is make
sure we are making the right short-term decisions to build a solid foundation
for the future. We have to be looking at how we want to evolve the Orchestra.
SD: What are high points of that strategy?
RB:First, I want to continue to evolve our board of directors
into one of the most
effective and influential boards in the
city. As the economy rebounds, we should seek greater relevance throughout
the Commonwealth. Of course, we are always thinking about successors on
the podium. Again, we’re not looking at this in the short-term. But
we want to make the right deci-sions now so that when the time comes, we
will be in the best position to recruit the next Jorge Mester. We will have
a lot of work to do over three or four years before we are in a strong recruitment
position.
SD: Jorge came in not long after Brad with a similar mind-set.
He loves this organization and offered his services for as long as needed
on terms very favorable to the LO.
RB: Right – Jorge is on an evergreen contract that
renews automatically each year. Jorge is fantastic and we are thrilled that
he is here as music director. His presence gives us the luxury of not having
to hurry.
SD: Would you describe yourself as a risk-taker?
RB: I have a very simple belief for orchestra leadership,
distinguished from orchestra management. There is a very elegant cycle at
play between an orchestra’s artistry, ambition and ability. These
three things feed one another, and I think it is essential we not lose sight
of the ambition portion of the equation. When an orchestra is clear about
its ambition and can defend that ambition, it is able to raise more money,
giving it the ability to develop resources, both human and fiscal. That
includes board members, staff, musicians, artistic leadership – the
whole nine yards. The ambition precedes the ability in order to be most
competitive in recruitment and retention of people and funds. Those two
things in combination feed the artistry. It’s a cycle that feeds itself.
Risk-taking is an essential element in making an organization vibrant.
I am a fiscal conservative, but I have a sincere appreciation for the need
to take risks programmatically.
SD: You have certainly inherited an organization that
has taken some risks over the past three years. For instance, Brad’s
L.O. WOW! series is unlike anything the LO had undertaken previously.
RB: That will continue this season with three big programs:
Cirque du la Symphonie, an acrobatic troupe that performs in sync with
the orchestra; a Tribute to Judy Garland with three giant screens over the
orchestra showing scenes from her television specials; and Music of the
Eagles as a follow-up to last season’s success with Led Zeppelin.
In the past, these have been single-ticket events because of the divergent
styles; but this year we are offering an L.O. WOW! subscription. We want
to establish a trust with our audience to know that whatever we bring in
will be the very highest quality.
SD: Tell me about the staff consolidation. I think it’s
important that people understand the kinds of things that are happen-ing
off stage to make the LO more viable.
RB: For me, “consolidation” is the name of
the game for 2009-2010. On the administrative level, we are trying to be
leaner and meaner with our finances and leaving some positions unfilled.
Like the mayor, we are doing some furloughing – going to four-day
work weeks during the summer. We are working with Kentucky Opera and LTA
(the Louisville Theatrical Association), both of which are located on the
floor just below us here at ArtSpace. We have already merged our ticketing,
front-of-office and marketing departments with the Opera. We are now integrating
our finance department with LTA and the Opera and adding LTA into our ticketing
operations.
SD: So you are taking advantage of economies of scale within
the building?
RB: Right. Each organization shares a portion of the
salaries for these important functions. Since we’re all right here
in the building, it works well. On the presentation side, the obvious change
is our summer series. Roarchestra will hibernate for a season, but I hope
to see it come back because I think the concept is great. Given the sponsorship
environment, we felt it was important to do something a little less expensive
this year.
SD: How will this summer be different?
RB:Every Saturday night in July we will
be at River Stage in Jeffersonville, Indiana. We have a great partnership
there: with the support of the city, admission to those concerts will be
free. On Thursday nights we will repeat the program at Ballard High School
for a $10 general admission. Jorge Mester came up with the idea to perform
Tchaikovsky’s Symphonies 4, 5 and 6
on the weeks following our traditional Independence Day celebration concert.
We will also perform the Mozart Horn Concerto No. 2, Clarinet Concerto and
an evening of Mozart arias. We’ll have a few encore pieces prepared
that will be a surprise. We’re calling it “The Summer Classics.” .
SD: You said earlier that the cost of putting on the concerts
at the zoo in the current sponsorship climate was cost-prohibitive. How
is the financial strength of the organization over all?
RB:We’re okay. We are one-third of the way into a
$15 million campaign to build the endowment, and I am not displeased with
that position. The economy is certainly putting challenges in front of us;
but fund-raising is a process, not an event. What we are finding is that
the number of donors is up this year, although amounts are down slightly.
Not a bad formula – we would rather have a broader base of support.
SD: What about ticket sales?
RB: We are way ahead of where we were this time last year.
I also don’t want you to think sponsorships are down unilaterally.
Treyton Oak Towers is increasing their support and will be the Coffee Series
sponsor; while Hardscuffle, Inc., will fill a new role as Lead Artistic
Partner. Next year Nana Lampton, a longtime supporter of the LO, and her
company are underwriting the cost of our world premiere commission work
by 2005 Grawemeyer Award-winning composer George Tsontakis.
SD: In this economic atmosphere, that is indeed impressive!
Forty-two is on the young side to be leading a major American symphony orchestra.
Are you at all hesitant about your own abilities?
RB: I have been a CEO since I was 25. I am an optimist
by nature and I’ve done this before. Two weeks after 9/11, I took
over an orchestra in San Francisco that was riddled with debt, had no long-range
plan, a fractionalized board and no development staff. I’ve done this
before and have been able to show how an organization can be made relevant
and vibrant by making the right decisions in the right order. I am really
excited by this opportunity. It’s going to take a lot of work, by
a lot of people. But I see
good things ahead.
For more information about the Louisville Orchestra’s “Summer
Classics Series,” call 502.584.7777 or go to their web site at louisvilleorchestra.org You
will also find information there about Louisville Orchestra’s 2009-2010
season that opens in September with guest soloist Joshua Bell performing
on the Fanfara concert.