How the Houston Symphony Adapted During a Crisis

Owl Have You Know: A Live Event 

featuring John Mangum, Professor Scott Sonenshein and a performance by musicians from the Houston Symphony

Are you eager to learn how organizations can innovate their way out of a crisis? You may be surprised that the key to this comes from an arts organization.

Join us for a special live recording of our award-winning podcast, Owl Have You Know (Monday, March 25 at 6:00 pm) with John Mangum, the executive director/CEO of the Houston Symphony, and Scott Sonenshein, the Henry Gardiner Symonds Professor of Management – Organizational Behavior at Rice Business.

During the pandemic, the performing arts faced an especially grave challenge beyond the shared difficulties with other industries: an existential crisis over the relevance of arts in times of extreme hardship. Professor Scott Sonenshein, a New York Times bestselling author and expert on how employees can create organizational, social and personal change, led a multi-year study of two prominent orchestras (including the Houston Symphony), resulting in a surprising insight with far-reaching applications. Resourcefulness is not just helpful for surviving adversity. It’s a strategic framework that enables organizations to become better versions of themselves.

In this conversation, John and Scott will reflect on how the Houston Symphony transformed their operations and performance delivery during the pandemic, and how business leaders facing disruptions can benefit from critical changes Scott’s research uncovered. Following their conversation, a string quartet featuring musicians from the Houston Symphony will perform.  

Please plan to arrive by 5:45 pm to be seated before we begin recording. Reception with refreshments to follow. Register today! 

Attendees are recommended to park in West Lot 2, near Brockman Hall. The fee is $12. Alternatively, attendees can park in the central campus garage. The fee is also $12, and this garage is under McNair Hall (Rice Business), which is to the left of Shepherd and Brockman.
 

Learn About Our Guests and Host

John Mangum
Guest
John is the executive director/CEO, Margaret Alkek Williams Chair, of the Houston Symphony. He works with the Music Director Juraj Valčuha, members of the orchestra, Board of Directors, staff, and other key stakeholders to further its mission of accessibility, relevance, and excellence. Previously, he held senior artistic planning roles at the San Francisco Symphony, the New York Philharmonic, and the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra.

Scott Sonenshein
Guest
Scott is the Henry Gardiner Symonds Professor of Management at Rice University and a New York Times bestselling author. His research explains how employees can foster organizational, social and personal change. Scott has written for the New York Times, Time Magazine and Harvard Business Review, and has been interviewed on national television. He won the Rice Business Faculty Research Excellence Award in 2010, 2011, 2012, 2014, 2015, 2017 and 2020. 

Maya Pomroy '22
Host
Maya is the founder of The Public Lead. She formerly launched educational toy and book store, Brilliant Sky Toys and Books in Austin, Texas and grew the business to $1 million in revenue in the first three years of operations. Previously, she served as an award-winning news anchor, reporter and executive producer for television news.

Register