01
Board & succession
A controlled diagnostic and planning path for leadership continuity, emergency authority, board readiness, and transition risk.
Cadenza / Leadership Practice
Arts & culture / International
Cadenza Executive Search & Advisory
Leadership decisions, handled with evidence.
A developing professional-services practice for orchestras, opera companies, conservatories, festivals, presenters, and other arts institutions facing succession, leadership risk, or executive transition.
Public inquiry boundary — do not send candidate, committee, relationship, or engagement records. A conversation does not create an engagement.
Evidence before assertion
Mandate profile
Built for institutions carrying consequential leadership risk.
- 01Orchestras and opera companies
- 02Conservatories and university music schools
- 03Festivals and competition organizations
- 04Presenters and performing-arts centers
- 05Boards preparing for leadership transition
- 06Institutions strengthening succession discipline
The work
A practice built around the decision, not the transaction.
The work is separated into clear services so a board can start with the actual institutional need rather than being pushed into a search.
02
Executive search
A governed retained-search model in formation, with consent, evidence, conflicts, off-limits, and committee integrity designed into delivery.
03
Interim leadership
A future scoped proposition for urgent continuity where mandate, authority, duration, handover, and accountability must be explicit.
04
Strategy & governance
A planned practice for institutional choices, governance design, stakeholder alignment, and implementation accountability.
05
Revenue & advancement
A planned practice connecting contributed revenue, earned revenue, audience development, and advancement operations.
06
Donor intelligence
A controlled research proposition using licensed sources, match review, relationship evidence, and human-governed prospect planning.
07
Facilities & program planning
Institutional, programmatic, market, operating, and financial planning before architecture or capital decisions begin.
08
Culture & community
A planned practice for organizational climate, accessibility, inclusive policy, community trust, and visible follow-through.
09
Leadership Institute
A future learning platform for arts executives, board chairs, and transition leaders, shaped by evidence from governed delivery.
Method / 01—04
How Cadenza is building the practice
Each stage has a named owner, evidence boundary, approval point, and stopping condition. The operating control is part of the work.
- 01
Start with the institution
Clarify the decision, sponsor, purpose, scope, and evidence need before proposing a product or a search.
- 02
Protect the record
Use the public application only for public Level 0/1 material; confidential work waits for an approved MFA-protected private boundary.
- 03
Separate evidence and judgement
Cited facts, professional judgement, limitations, approvals, and publication decisions remain distinguishable and reviewable.
- 04
Automate only after delivery
Leadership OS modules are selected from observed risk and repeated burden in governed engagements, not imagined in advance.
Transparent fee guide
Know the commercial frame before the conversation.
These are future planning ranges in US dollars, not active offers or guaranteed quotes. Cadenza will confirm one signed scope, professional fee, milestone schedule, expense cap, taxes, and third-party costs before work begins.
Executive Search
Formation practiceFixed professional fee; CEO, major-institution, international, and artistic searches are generally higher.
From $60,000
Future planning range / USD
Board & Succession
Formation practiceAnnual engagement planning range; a narrower diagnostic or emergency plan would be scoped separately.
$30,000–$100,000+
Future planning range / USD
Interim Leadership
Formation practiceInterim search and transition fee; interim executive compensation is separate.
$35,000–$75,000
Future planning range / USD
Strategy & Governance
Planned practiceFixed project range shaped by institutional scale, participation, evidence, and implementation scope.
$50,000–$175,000+
Future planning range / USD
Revenue & Advancement
Planned practiceFixed project range shaped by data readiness, revenue lanes, campaign scope, and implementation support.
$40,000–$150,000+
Future planning range / USD
Donor Intelligence
Planned practicePackage or custom scope; record volume, licensed-provider costs, human review, and advisory depth drive the range.
$10,000–$100,000+
Future planning range / USD
Facilities & Program Planning
Planned practiceFixed project range; architects, engineers, acousticians, cost consultants, and other specialists contract separately.
$100,000–$350,000+
Future planning range / USD
Culture & Community
Planned practiceFixed project range shaped by stakeholder groups, listening safeguards, accessibility review, facilitation, evidence volume, and implementation support.
$40,000–$150,000+
Future planning range / USD
Leadership Institute
Future institutePrivate institutional programme planning range; future cohort pricing requires a separate owner-approved model.
$40,000–$125,000+
Future planning range / USD
C01
Professional fee
Fixed in the signed scope. Executive-search fees are not calculated as a percentage of compensation.
C02
Milestones
The contract states invoice amounts and dates. Search planning assumes 40% / 30% / 30%, subject to the signed schedule.
C03
Approved expenses
Travel, advertising, checks, assessments, translation, legal review, specialists, and events are separate only when pre-approved.
C04
No hidden markup
Taxes and third-party costs are identified. Any administrative markup must be disclosed in the contract before commitment.
Operating standard
Non-negotiable boundaries.
Product constraints and operating rules—not trust language added after the fact.
- G01No confidential candidate, committee, relationship, conflict, or engagement records belong in the public Cadenza application.
- G02No model may rank, recommend, reject, contact, or publish a person on Cadenza’s behalf.
- G03Advisory work remains independent from software sales, marketplace ranking, advertising, and editorial coverage.
- G04Public-source signals stay UNVERIFIED until a named human reviews the cited evidence.
Leadership pathway
The complete practice.
010203040506070809
Executive Search
Governed retained search from institutional readiness through appointment and onboarding.
From $60,000
Formation practice
Board & Succession
Leadership continuity, emergency authority, board readiness, and transition discipline.
$30,000–$100,000+
Formation practice
Interim Leadership
A controlled continuity path when leadership changes faster than the permanent mandate.
$35,000–$75,000
Formation practice
Strategy & Governance
Strategic choices, governance design, institutional alignment, and implementation control.
$50,000–$175,000+
Planned practice
Revenue & Advancement
Contributed and earned revenue, audience development, and advancement operating discipline.
$40,000–$150,000+
Planned practice
Donor Intelligence
Licensed research, match review, relationship paths, and evidence-led prospect planning.
$10,000–$100,000+
Planned practice
Facilities & Program Planning
Institutional, programmatic, market, operating, and financial planning before design.
$100,000–$350,000+
Planned practice
Culture & Community
Organizational climate, accessibility, inclusive practice, and accountable engagement.
$40,000–$150,000+
Planned practice
Leadership Institute
A future learning platform for arts executives, board chairs, and transition leaders.
$40,000–$125,000+
Future institute
Begin carefully
Start with the decision you need to make.
Cadenza can discuss future scope and pilot interest. Do not send confidential records, candidate information, committee material, or an active mandate through the public form.