Vancouver Recital Society Founder writes a tribute to Artist Managers in COVID times

How are the managers managing?
Vancouver Recital Society
June 24, 2020

Dear Friends,
 
I’d like to devote my thoughts this week to a group of individuals who are less visible to the concert-going public but who play a VITAL role in the delivery of great performances in venues large and small throughout the world. Much has been written about the fate of musicians whose livelihoods depend on delivering their art, and the organizations and venues which present them in communities around the globe, but there’s another group within the arts which has been severely hit by COVID-19: the managers and management companies who represent and advocate on behalf of artists.
 
When you sit in your seat, ready to enjoy a recital, opera, symphony performance, chamber or choral concert, you’re not necessarily thinking about all the steps that have taken place to deliver what you’re about to experience. And you don’t need to. You’ve given us your hard earned cash to experience something uplifting and gratifying. And we all do our very best to meet or (hopefully!) exceed your expectations. Sometimes we’re successful, sometimes less so.
 
Just as we at the VRS can never thank our supporters enough for having sustained us for 40 years, we also know that the artists’ managers and their companies have helped us to navigate and survive this wonderful world of concert presenting.
 
Over the years we've built remarkable and lasting relationships with many artists’ managers in various countries. They too take risks, especially when they sign new artists and invest time and money to help build their careers through a variety of networks. They believe in them, nurture them, and plan their courses of career-building very carefully. They advocate, find the bookings, plan the tours, and for this they get a commission. Well, as you can imagine, it’s tough going right now... no concerts, no commission. 
 
The managers, too, are juggling the already-dropped dates with the current and future dates which are in jeopardy. None of us knows what, if anything, is going to happen in the months ahead.
 
My heart goes out to my dear colleagues and friends who are managers, who had put in hours of work to get us to where we are now, only to find all those plans cancelled.
 
I’ve been extremely lucky to work with such a remarkable group of people and can only hope that we’ll all come through this together so that we can continue to bring the makers of magic to our stages.

Take care,

Leila Getz, C.M., O.B.C., DFA
Founder & Artistic Director
Vancouver Recital Society

To read the full letter, click here.