Leadership Ensemble
Orpheus: A Conductor-less
Orchestra
Brennan, Dana, Dave, Michelle
Introduction
 New
York based orchestra established in
1974
 Founded by Julian Fifer
 Consists of 27 members
 Famous for implementing a “leaderless”
orchestra
 “Orpheus” – name for Greek god who
created music so powerful, stones rose
and followed him
Agenda
 Motivation
 Decision
Making
 Leadership
 Team Cohesion and Structure
 Conclusion
Motivation
 Success
 The
Early Stages
 Job Satisfaction
 Problems
 Solution
Motivation
 Musicians:
More talent = greater career
options
 No matter how successful, most resort to
teaching
 Members of Orpheus unsatisfied in
conventional orchestras; under the control
of a conductor
The Early Stages
 Motivation
undermined by having to follow
conductor’s strict rules
 Success is defined as “how you can follow
other orchestra’s members actions”
 “The climate in most conductor-led
orchestras is appalling”
The Early Stages
 The
aspect of “making good music” is
relinquished
 Must be self-motivated due to steep
competition
 Much time devoted to studying music –
individuals invest much pride and ego in
career
The Early Stages
 Self-expression
in music more difficult if
orchestra conductor-led
 Individuality proves relatively useless in
conventional orchestras as conductor tells
you what to do
 Formal training is only required for entry
into orchestra
Job Satisfaction
 Widespread
discontent among symphony
musicians in 4 countries
 Musicians believe that their talent is
underrepresented in an orchestra
 One Orpheus member said, “You must be
careful not to let symphony job conflict
with making music.”
Problems
 Conductor
control leads to lack of
communication between musicians
 Overall spirit lost due to strict control of
conductor
 Members not inspired to work as a team
Solution
 Create
an orchestra based on a new
philosophy
 Julian Fifer selected musicians who could
handle and give criticism to fellow
musicians
 Create an atmosphere where individual
spirits and enthusiasm determined
orchestra outcome
Solution
 No
particular method was implemented to
gain ideas for pieces of music
 Every member contributes ideas for each
piece of music
 This encouraged members to use their
talents and training to determine overall
success
Decision Making
 Unanimous
Decisions
 Core Groups
 Concert Master
Unanimous Decision Making
 All
27 members participated
 Strong willed musicians
 Why this is a problem
Core Groups
 Formulate
interpretations
 Same preparations as a conductor
 Each presents to ensemble
 Rotate regularly
Concert Master
 Team
Captain vs. Coach
 Responsibilities
 Influence
 Rotation
 Executive Committee
Leadership
 Leadership
and feedback
 Teamwork leads to trust
 Every musician is a leader
Leadership
 “Each
musician in Orpheus will…sit in the
audience to hear how each piece sounds
to a concertgoer”
 Without
a conductor each member must
play the role of leader
 Personal
feedback from colleagues is vital
Teamwork & Leadership
 Teams
in Orpheus rely on individual
members having a common objective
 Each team shares common values leading
to a high degree of respect among all
members
 Highly cohesive team with defined roles,
accountability and trust
 Stage 2 Organization
Teamwork & Leadership





Core-group in Orpheus changes regularly
Each member responsible for leadership training
Leaders are constantly dealing with change in
groups
Responsible for envisioning, energizing and
enabling new members in orchestra
Personal development among members: ”This
experience has allowed me to discover
strengths that I didn’t know I had.”
Team Cohesion and
Structure
 Practical
Considerations
 Team Cohesion
 Drawbacks
 Benefits
Practical Considerations
 No
director, or full-time members
 Members must take on freelance
opportunities
 Bassoonist Frank Morelli: Only provides
10% of his yearly income, but “artistically,
it may be the most rewarding work he’s
ever done.”
Team Cohesion
 Substitutes
to cover for unavailable
members
 The
‘whole’ must be the same, in spite of
the rotating identities of the ‘parts’
 One
member from each instrument section
fluent in Orpheus’ leadership process must
perform at each concert
Team Cohesion
 Orchestra

has a dozen regular substitutes
An “extended family of musicians”
 Substitutes
 “Hearing
must contribute their opinions
fresh, new ideas is always good.”
Team Cohesion
 A high
degree of interaction among members
 Somewhat
difficult entry
• Both in terms of skill and artistic philosophy
 A common
external challenge
• Upcoming performances
Team Cohesion
 Longevity
leads to familiarity, not only with
your job, but with your co-workers
 Familiarity
 “You
leads to predictability
can anticipate one another’s every
move.”
Drawbacks
 The
pressure to achieve cohesion
quickly
 The
time it takes to organize a structure
that works
 Divergent
philosophies may lead to
conflict among team members
Benefits
 Flexibility
 Collaboration
 An
= free exchange of ideas
essential formation of trust
 Artistic
freedom and self-expression
 Higher
levels of job satisfaction
Conclusion
 Motivation

Greater involvement leads to greater job
satisfaction
 Decision

Making
Dividing into core groups leads to teamwork
and trust
Conclusion
 Leadership

Collaborative due to common objective and
shared values
 Team


Cohesion
Cohesion results from new ideas contributed
by rotating members
There are benefits and drawbacks; success
depends on situation
Questions…