Orchestra chief quits ‘because job’s too hard’

Orchestra chief quits ‘because job’s too hard’

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norman lebrecht

December 23, 2018

The Tampere Philharmonic in Finland is in the market for a new boss.

Kristiina Penttinen resigned today after six months in the job saying she ‘did not expect it to be this much work’ and she was ‘not willing to sacrifice more to her work than she already has.’

Family, she said, was her first priority.

Comments

  • George M says:

    But did she actually say ‘job’s too hard’? Because from your article it doesn’t suggest she does, but you quote it in the clickbait headline? There is a hell of a difference between ‘not expect it to be this much work’ and ‘too hard’. Will reserve judgement till we see the interview in full, but looks like sloppy journalism…

    • Jaime Herrera says:

      This is curious. How did “changes” take place without her acquiescence? She was the boss, no? Perhaps I’m mistaken. I have worked in bureaucracies where the Administration makes changes which over-burden some employees to the point that their jobs become impossible to actually carry out so they quit.

      • Have you never seen the episode where Fred Flintstone and Mr. Slate change places? There are many things a “boss” has no control over. Suppose a key subordinate left for another job? Or the government entities you must work with have changed their requirements? Or the funding that was said to be in place is not really in place.

  • Peter says:

    Long ago I learned that when Norman posts a story expressed in tendentious language, it is always wise to check another source to determine whether it is accurate. Unsurprisingly, it turns out that Norman has omitted a key part of Penttinen’s comments in which she explained why she was leaving.

    “Continuous changes have created an unmanageable workload for the general manager. I feel that I have therefore been unable to contribute in the ways that I would have liked and that I considered to be important for both my own and the orchestra’s goals.”

    Whatever the situation at the orchestra is, that’s a bit more than just “I didn’t expect it to be this much work”.

  • Anthony Boatman says:

    Well, yes, family SHOULD be your first priority no matter what career you undertake. If you have the right set of experience and skills and a committed staff working with you, you can balance your life’s responsibilities without any of them being an undue burden. Best of luck and Hyvää Joulua!

  • Paul says:

    The orchestra needs a news boss???What did she do for them???

    • Axl says:

      She was the intendand or general manager (like Deborah Borda in NY Phil or Andrea Zietzschmann in Berlin Phil) of that orchestra. Previously she was intendant of Joensuu City orchestra, which is much smaller orchestra (35 musicians) like Tampere Philharmonic (full 97 musicians) is.

  • Paul says:

    What did she do..

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