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After 10 years as CEO of Montreal’s Orchestre Métropolitain (OM), Jean Dupré has retired, leaving the organization on a high: its budget has more than doubled to $7 million, staffing has grown from eight to 22 and musicians’ wages have almost doubled, its endowment fund is at $8.5 million and its reputation is recognized around the world. His strategic planning has paid off.
When he took the job in 2012, Dupré’s first objective was to change the perception of the OM as the second orchestra in Montreal and to demonstrate that it’s of the same quality as the city’s other orchestra. Secondly, he wanted to improve the working conditions of the musicians by increasing the number of services and the scale of each service. He also increased the orchestra’s international reputation through regular recordings and successful European and American tours.
Raised in Mont-Tremblant, Dupré attended Collège Notre-Dame in Montreal where he played football as an offensive guard. This passion for sports led to studies in physical education at the University of Ottawa, but after an internship he realized he didn’t want to be a phys-ed teacher. Instead, he pursued a master’s degree in the new sports administration program at the Université de Montréal followed by a post-graduate degree in administration at Concordia to learn more about finance and to improve his English. He interned as national team co-ordinator for Ski Jumping Canada, rising to director general for six years before moving on to the bigger Cross Country Canada. He then worked in marketing for Peter Pocklington and the Edmonton Oilers, but soon realized he didn’t share many of the values of professional sports and left to align with the human side of amateur sports.
The only job available was with speedskating, which had many problems, including friction between the two disciplines: long track (mostly anglophones from the West) and short track (mostly francophones from Quebec), along with financial issues. “In 1996, I redid the strategic plan with objective within six years to be the top sport in Canada, and to be the No. 1 country in the world in speedskating,” said Dupré. In order to attract world championships, they convinced the International Federation by hosting more World Cups and showing that Canada was a professional and capable host. This required a large financial commitment in the first two years, but it generated $2 million-plus in TV revenue, making it a good investment. They also brought in high-performance experts from other countries.
Dupré met the goal by 2000, two years earlier, and the fruits of Dupré’s strategic plan culminated in Canada’s success in short-track and long-track speedskating at the 2010 Vancouver Olympics. In 2010, Dupré got his dream job as CEO of the Canadian Olympic Committee (COC), but he left one year later due to the Marcel Aubut sexual harassment controversy.
When he read of Dupré’s departure, OM board member Richard Renaud who had also served on the COC board, called with the offer. Apprehensive at first, Dupré realized that the same values, the passion, the pursuit of excellence, drive musicians that drive athletes. “The challenges of managing an orchestra and a sport organization are the same,” said Dupré, who realized the main difference is that sports relied heavily on marketing and sponsorships, whereas fundraising is more important for the arts. “I learned a lot from speaking with donors and understanding what motivates them to give.”
He spent his first year and a half focusing on rebuilding relationships with the musicians, partners, and funders, convincing the arts councils that the OM deserved more funding. For example, they had only been receiving $80,000 per year federally due to an unwritten rule that only one major orchestra per city should be supported. He increased it to $400,000.
In 2014, he developed a new strategic plan, starting with the artistic vision from OM’s artistic director Yannick Nézet-Séguin, and then building the plan around that vision. The committee included staff, board members and musicians. That plan involved having regular recording and international tours, which added to the number of services of the musicians. “When I met with the board in 2015 for approval of our first international tour in Europe in 2018, we had to decide now because the agency was booking the venues; we hadn’t raised any of the $1.2 million budget, but the board believed in me,” said Dupré. “The level of confidence and trust they’ve put in me enabled me to do so many things.” That tour was both an artistic and financial success. “We were able to give the musicians a Christmas bonus that year.”
Dupré is particularly proud of the summer concerts at Mount-Royal Park which started at the top of Mount-Royal in 2016. It got so popular that they had to move it to the foot of the mountain and it has become an annual event. It was after one of the concerts that Martin Hudon, OM’s current assistant general director and who worked in marketing at the Montreal Symphony (OSM) at the time, sent Dupré his CV and a letter saying he wanted to work for the OM. In fact, the OM’s 22 staff members now include many former OSM staffers. “I don’t go looking for them; they come to me,” said Dupré, who believes in hiring the best people and delegating them with responsibility and accountability.
After years of the job taking him away from home, Dupré is ready to retire and spend his golden years with his wife of 38 years. “COVID showed us that we could spend every day together.” His favourite classical music piece is Elgar’s Nimrod (from “Enigma Variations”).
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