John Palatucci

For over 30 years, John Palatucci has been musical director of Ridgewood’s Orpheus Club Men’s Chorus. The organization has been around since 1909. For over a century the group has had to keep up with times in multiple ways: music selection, technology, recruiting, finances…and of course, Covid. John talks to me about how the pandemic has forced the organization to change their approach. For more about the organization, you can click here for their website: https://www.ridgewoodorpheusclub.org/

But John also talks about the various business and finance aspects of running the group. Figuring out the right ticket pricing, managing schedules so as to avoid competitors who might take away some of their audience, spending money on facilities, licensing, guests, and so on. There’s also the discussion about how social media has increased their ability to fundraise during the pandemic.

John shares with me what makes the organization unique after 100+ years, and gives our podcast listeners a short but exclusive vocal performance. His lungs are stronger than mine!