DOS Orchestra #1 - 20 June 94

News from the world of professional orchestras.
Copyright 1994, International Conference of Symphony and Opera Musicians

Topics

Buffalo Philharmonic Suspends Operations

The Buffalo Philharmonic suspended operations on Monday, May 9, for the second time this season, due to a cash shortage.

John Bauser, the Executive Director of the BPO, said that concerts could resume "by next week" if the musicians agreed to concessions that include a 5% pay cut, as well as cuts in pension and health benefits. Bauser said the orchestra could fold if musicians don't agree to the concessions.

In the fall of 1993 the musicians agreed to concessions of approximately 20% after the orchestra was shut down for a month.

On May 28, 1994, the Buffalo Philharmonic musicians issued the following public statement:

"On May 9, 1994, the musicians of the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra were informed by management that "maintenance of the orchestra and the giving of public performances... has been terminated." Management claims that certain third party financing (government grants) had not been received causing an inability to meet the musicians' payroll. Also, as of June 1, BPO musicians will no longer receive any health benefits. The management of the BPO has not declared bankruptcy as of May 28. This firing is a flagrant violation of our collective bargaining agreement and we are filing the appropriate legal actions.

This termination, or shall we say, firing, comes only 7 months after the musicians reluctantly agreed to give up 5 weeks of work mid-contract, on the condition that the BPO management and the Orchestra Board get its act together. This agreement resulted in a "Reconstruction Committee," made up of musicians and Board members, which met for several months gathering ideas for improved management. After disregarding all the musicians' ideas, causing them to resign in disgust, the Board presented its "reconstruction plan" on May 5: another 5% pay cut for musicians, plus restructuring of health insurance and a freeze on their pension. But before the musicians were given a chance to respond to this plan, on May 9th they were all terminated.

Not a single collective bargaining agreement has been honored by management for the past five years. The musicians feel we can no longer be accomplices in the decimation of our orchestra and are taking the position that we will not entertain further cuts in weeks and wages. Read our lips: "No More Cuts."

That said, our Orchestra Committee has agreed to engage in discussions with management on the condition that all proposed cuts are taken "off the table." In that regard, the Orchestra Committee, with the assistance of legal counsel Richard Furlong, is engaged in intensive discussions with management and community leaders in a "Tripartite Task Force" in an effort to find ways to secure a more solid financial and artistic future for the BPO. But no date has been set for resumption of the Orchestra's schedule. Talks continue, but management recently announced cancellation of all concerts through June 12, 1994. As the musicians await the outcome of these talks, their resolve is firm; they believe the yearly, and now twice yearly, shutdowns and givebacks can no longer be tolerated."

-- from newspaper articles and BPO musicians public statements

Cleveland Orchestra Appoints Preucil as Concertmaster

The Cleveland Orchestra announced on June 9 that William Preucil, first violinist of the Cleveland Quartet, had been appointed concertmaster. Preucil replaces long-time concertmaster Daniel Majeske, who died on November 28, 1993.

Before joining the Cleveland Quartet, (which has no connection with the Cleveland Orchestra), Preucil was concertmaster of the Atlanta and Nashville orchestras. He is widely regarded as one of the finest violinists of his generation.

According to informed sources, Preucil was also offered the concertmastership of the Philadelphia Orchestra.

In an associated announcement, the Cleveland Quartet announced that it would disband.

Colorado Symphony Musicians, Staff Take Pay Cut

As a result of a projected budget shortfall for the 1993-94 season, the 82 musicians and 17 staff of the Colorado Symphony have agreed to put one week's salary in escrow to guarantee a balanced budget with the fiscal year ends on June 30.

A telephone campaign is underway to raise additional funds, and the CSO's General Director, Rick Davis, said that he hoped the $200,000 in escrow eventually will be refunded. The Denver Musicians Association, Local 20-623 of the American Federation of Musicians donated $10,000 to the CSO this week.

The Colorado Symphony is a self-governing professional orchestra that arose from the ashes of the Denver Symphony in 1989. Its charter calls for a balanced budget every year.

- from newspaper articles

Milwaukee Symphony Adds Week, Artistic Advisor, Fundraiser

The Milwaukee Symphony announced on May 10 that it would be putting on an additional week of concerts during the last week of July. Stephen E. Richman, a member of the MSO board of directors and chair of a summer task force of board members, staff, musicians, and community representatives, said that the task force had found funding for three public concerts; a "Classical Conversations" concert featuring the music of Aaron Copland and Leonard Bernstein and funded by component funds of the Jewish Community Foundation, a free concert at Humboldt Park underwritten by unidentified "community friends of the MSO," and an appearance at German Fest, until last season a regular part of the MSO's summer schedule. There will also be a private performance for a convention.

The announcement of the additional week, which will be offered to all MSO musicians, comes approximately two months after the conclusion of the longest and most bitter labor negotiations in the MSO's four decades. After a January work stoppage, the musicians agreed in March to a three-year contract that cut seven weeks from the MSO's schedule of 48 weeks, with a concomitant cut in the musicians' income of 14.7% in the first year. Executive Director Joan H. Squires, the second most highly-paid employee of the MSO according to documents filed with the IRS, took a cut of approximately 7% in her income.

On May 19, the Milwaukee Symphony announced that Stanislaw Skrowaczewski had been appointed Artistic Advisor for the 1995-96 season. He will join a conducting staff that includes Doc Severinson as Principal Pops Conductor, Neal Gittleman as Associate Conductor, and Harvey Felder as Assistant Conductor.

The MSO's Music Director, Zdenek Macal, announced in November 1993 that the 1994-95 season would be his last as Music Director.

On June 7, the MSO announced that Eric G. Meyer, Executive Director of the Tucson Symphony Orchestra for 14 years, had been appointed Director of Development. During his tenure in Tucson, the Tucson Symphony became one of the very few U.S. orchestras to receive a National Arts Stabilization Fund grant, and successfully concluded an endowment/capital campaign of $4 million. The MSO has been without a Director of Development for almost a year, during which period the Board's inability to raise additional funds was frequently cited by management in support of its demand for the musicians to accept a 14.7% pay cut.

- from MSO propaganda, newspaper articles, IRS documents

Oregon Symphony Appoints Sidlin Resident Conductor

The Oregon Symphony and Pacific University announced on May 9 that Murry Sidlin had been appointed as the Symphony's Resident Conductor and as the James DePriest Professor of Music at Pacific University in Forest Grove, where Sidlin will create the Oregon Symphony Conducting Apprenticeship Program. According to the Oregon Symphony, "the appointments establish the first official relationship between a symphony orchestra and higher education specifically for the purpose of training young conductors."

Sidlin has been Music Director of the New Haven and Long Beach symphonies, and is currently on the faculty of the University of Minnesota and Resident Conductor and Director of Conducting Studies at the Aspen Music Festival.

DePriest has agreed to serve as honorary chair of an Advisory Panel that Sidlin will establish at Pacific University for the Conducting Apprenticeship Program. Also on the panel will be conductors Leonard Slatkin, Lawrence Foster, Sergiu Comissiona, and Norman Leyden. Also serving on the panel will be Carolynn D. Loacker, a member of the OSO board whose gift provides the seed money for a $1 million endowment establishing the James DePreist Professor of Music Chair at Pacific University.

According to the OSO, "there will no be changes in responsibility for DePreist or for Associate Conductor Norman Leyden."

- from OSO propaganda

San Antonio Symphony: New Labor Agreement, Financial Plan

Negotiators for the San Antonio Symphony and the Musicians Society of San Antonio, Local 23 AFM, reached agreement on a new three-year collective bargaining agreement on June 4, 1994. The new agreement provides for salary increases of 15.7% over three years, from a base salary this season of $23,595 to a base salary of $27,300 for the 1995-96 season.

On May 25, the Board of Directors of the San Antonio Symphony unanimously approved a resolution accepting the recommendations of the Symphony Task Force to San Antonio Mayor Nelson Wolff. The Task Force had been appointed by Mayor Wolff and was composed of community leaders not directly involved with the Symphony.

The Task Force recommendations, and the Symphony's responses, were as follows:
  1. "Symphony should liquidate $5 million of its $6 million endowment to eliminate the standing debt, with a resulting savings of $50,000 per year." The Symphony has done so, effective May 31.
  2. "Symphony leadership should reduce non-orchestra expenses by 10%." The Symphony leadership has identified and will implement expense reductions of $300,000 over the next two seasons. $178,000 in budget cuts for the 1994-95 season will be effective June 1. These cuts include a 10% salary reduction for Music Director Christopher Wilkins and Executive Director David Schillhammer, as well as reductions in senior staff entertainment and travel expenses.
  3. "The City should stabilize its funding of the Symphony at $500,000 per year for the next five years." Mayor Wolff has pledged his support of this recommendation to the Symphony leadership, pending their compliance with proposals 1 and 2. The Symphony Board will keep the Mayor apprised of its progress, per his request.
  4. "The City should furnish a cost-free venue for the Symphony." Mayor Wolff will lead discussions of this issue among the four parties concerned: the City, the Las Casas Foundation, PACE management, and the Symphony.
  5. "The Symphony should increase annual philanthropic support by $600,000." Current major donors to the Symphony's Capital Campaign have indicated their intent to continue their contributions to the Symphony. This support will be combined with new fund raising initiatives, including increased efforts to obtain funding from foundations on the national level. - from SAS propaganda

    Symphony Nova Scotia Manager Resigns

    Merv Henwood has resigned as general manager of Symphony Nova Scotia. Jody Wood, the retiring executive director of the Cultural Federations of Nova Scotia, will serve as interim manager.

  7. - from Association of Canadian Orchestras propaganda

    Thunder Bay Symphony Orchestra Conductor Announces Departure

    Glenn Mossop has announced that he will step down as music director of the Thunder Bay Symphony Orchestra as of April 1995

  9. - from Association of Canadian Orchestras propaganda

    Tulsa Philharmonic Musicians Agree to Concessions

    Agreement was reached on April 27 between the musicians and the Board of the Tulsa Philharmonic after weeks of difficult negotiations. According to **The Leading Tone**, the newsletter of the Regional Orchestra Players' Association, "under a threat of total liquidation under Chapter 7 bankruptcy, the musicians reluctantly accepted the Board's proposal of a $1.7 million budget for next season, a reduction of $600,000 from the current 1993-94 budget."

  11. The TPO Board filed for reorganization under Chapter 11 bankruptcy in Federal court in March, to which musicians' spokesperson Diane Bucchianeri responded, "how much further will these individuals go in order to accomplish what appears to be their mission - the destruction of the Tulsa Philharmonic as a professional orchestra? ... in view of this Board's dissipation of the $1.3 million restricted endowment fund, it is doubtful they could direct a successful recovery of this organization. A Trustee could assume control of the Philharmonic, prudently manage the day-to-day operations, evaluate the situation and propose a solution."

  13. The four main points of the settlement are:
    1. an immediate 10% cut for the remainder of the 1993-94 season;
    2. an additional cut of 8% beginning September 1, 1994;
    3. elimination of ten services for Guaranteed Service Musicians in the 1994-95 season;
    4. an additional cut of 50% of the overscale amount for musicians with overscale pay.
    According to **The Leading Tone**, "in return for the TPO Board's acceptance of the musicians' proposal for restructuring the pay cut (from the Board's original proposal), musicians agreed to drop a demand for a court-appointed Trustee, but the settlement must still be approved by the Federal judge under Chapter 11 proceedings. The Board must also submit for his approval a complete plan for reorganization."

    - from **The Leading Tone**

    Vancouver Symphony Orchestra Appoints Manager

    Michael Wall has been appointed acting general manager of the Vancouver Symphony. He will take a leave of absence from the orchestra as an active player. Kathleen Speakman has been appointed director of planning and production, Susan Jackson, director of marketing, Sue Street, director of development, and Mark W. Zimmerman, controller.

    - from Association of Canadian Orchestras propaganda 
    Publications ------------ **Senza Sordino** (International
Conference of Symphony and Opera Musicians newsletter) Volume 32, #4 May
1994 Middle-aged Ninja Mutant Newsletter The Complete Index to Senza Sordino,
1963-1994 A Call for Help - for bone marrow donors for Filipino/Caucasian
girl Back Issue Policy **The Leading Tone** (Regional Orchestra Players
Association newsletter) Volume 10, #3 May 1994 Threat of Shutdown Forces
Cuts in Tulsa What's Wrong with This Picture? The American Symphony Orchestra
League and the Real World of Musicians Taxing the Tools of the Trade - court
case on instrument deductions Reporting on the Report - A Musicians' Perspective
- on ASOL report Facing a Crisis - Tulsa delegate on Tulsa Philharmonic
situation Canadian Orchestra Faces Demands for More Concessions - Toronto
**Symphony** (American Symphony Orchestra League magazine) Volume 45, #2
March/April 1994 In Motor Perpetuo - on the joys of not having a job in
a full-time orchestra Tools of the Trade - on orchestra musicians' instruments
The Best Seats in the House? - ergonomics and musicians' chairs In Memoriam
- Erich Leinsdorf Orchestra Musicians: Many Parts to Play - survey on musician
involvement off-stage **Symphony** (American Symphony Orchestra League magazine)
Volume 45, #3 May/June 1994 Of Time and Tradition - New Haven, Los Angeles,
and Cleveland celebrate anniversaries Counting the Candles - so do other
orchestras Amber Waves of Gain - Henry Fogel on radiothons Sonidos de las
Americas: Mexico - American Composers Orchestra looks south Classic Summer
Fare - Symphony's annual guide to North American music festivals

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