Why orchestra management is hard

Joseph Horowitz doubled down on his remarks about musician compensation in a later blog post (analyzed by Drew McManus here):

If I sound unsympathetic to the musicians, it’s because I’ve heard one too many times the strident union litany blaming ignorant boards and incompetent managers. Running an orchestra is a thankless task. I’ve done it.

There’s a lot to say about what Horowitz wrote, but I’m currently in the throes of figuring out how to play Baroque viola (a fascinating process, by the way). But, as wrong-headed as much of what Horowitz wrote is, he definitely has a point about orchestra management being hard. There are lots of reasons, but the following neatly captures one of the major challenges: