They Told Me Not to Take that Job: Tumult, Betrayal, Heroics, and the Transformation of Lincoln Center Read Online Free PDF Page A

could afford to do so.
    Although my twelve years with AT&T proved to be lucrative, at least by my own standards and expectations, they did not mitigate the impact of my encounter in early adulthood with the reality of debt and its consequences. I am sure that this experience is partly responsible for my ironclad commitment to deliver balanced or surplus budget results in all of the posts I have held, for all the years I have held them.
    Living beyond one’s means is unhealthy for families and institutions. Working hard to generate surplus capital is an admirable discipline, organizationally and personally. Special needs and rainy days are inevitable. Accumulated savings will help to manage them. That small pizza and Pepsi at Dutch’s and that bounced check embarrassed an eighteen-year-old freshman. It was one source of distress that never again made an appearance in my life.
    M Y YEARS AT Lincoln Center were tumultuous and eventful. They began in March 2002 and ended on January 31, 2014.
    During this period the New York Philharmonic publicly reversed itself, first triumphantly announcing a merger with Carnegie Hall, and then, five months later, abashedly declaring the merger a nullity, much to the embarrassment of all involved parties.
    This fiasco was no surprise to those who had watched the New York Philharmonic closely. We sadly observed an orchestra adrift, lacking inmanagerial and trustee leadership. Its superb musicians, often performing with astonishing virtuosity, deserved better.
    During his seven-year tenure, its music director, Lorin Maazel, was arguably among the world’s most technically able conductors, and surely the most handsomely paid. He was also, before and after concerts, for all intents and purposes missing in action, a veritable mystery man. During his tenure, never once, unlike virtually all of his predecessors, did he deign to conduct The Juilliard Orchestra or any other private school ensemble. He never expressed interest in improving the state of music education in New York City’s elementary and secondary schools. Indeed, he rarely appeared on local radio or television. The board of directors and staff seemed entirely comfortable with a music director largely unrelated to the city that surrounded him. The New York Philharmonic was in a sense a disembodied ensemble, led by a globe-trotting septuagenarian, more at ease on his Virginia farm or, apparently, in almost any European capital, than in Manhattan.
    Concurrently, Gustavo Dudamel, Michael Tilson Thomas (MTM), and David Robertson, to name but three conductors, came to personify the excitement and energy generated by the Los Angeles Philharmonic, the San Francisco Symphony, and the St. Louis Symphony, respectively. These are well-led institutions; they know what they are about. They have artistic profiles and stand for something musically. Audiences and critics flock to their performances. Other cities in America and around the world invite them to perform, early and often. Each artistic leader embodies and personifies the town that engages him professionally. MTM and Gustavo are known to concertgoers and taxi drivers alike. That was not the case for their counterpart in New York City.
    It is said that if you don’t know where you are going, any road will take you there. The New York Philharmonic’s detour to Carnegie Hall was paved with a reckless neglect of the interests of a precious artistic institution and the public it was bound to serve. For Lincoln Center’s resident orchestra, maintaining robust audiences was a constant challenge. The New York Philharmonic was stuck, year after year, with an alarming operating deficit. It was neither seasonal nor cyclical, but structural. Governance and management mediocrity became the norm. How could this condition be tolerated by respected trustees possessedof the capacity to express their views and, if necessary, part company with an organization that seemed to be just coasting along?
    At the