DOS Orchestra #7 - 1 August 94

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

Topics

Boston Symphony: Guest Conductor Cancels

Christian Thielemann, who was scheduled to conduct the Boston Symphony this past weekend at Tanglewood, canceled his appearances due to "chronic fatigue." Robert Spano, former BSO assistant conductor and recent recipient of the Seaver-National Endowment for the Arts Award, which is granted to "exceptionally gifted American conductors who are in the early stages of major careers," took over Friday's all-Beethoven program. Andre Previn conducted Saturday's program with baritone Hermann Prey.

Thielemann has made recent successful guest appearances with several major American orchestras.

Chicago Symphony: Cutbacks for Live Broadcasts, Staff Changes

WFMT, the Chicago radio station that distributes the live broadcasts of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, will not carry live CSO broadcasts this summer. Instead, the station will broadcast a 13-week season of performances from the CSO archives.

According to WFMT program director Norman Pellegrini, "Amoco still is underwriting the series, but it wanted to reduce its percentage ... Amoco had told us two years ago [it] wanted to cut" its funding for the broadcasts.

Henry Fogel, CSO executive director, said that the cutbacks still leave the CSO with "the longest and biggest syndication of any orchestra on the radio," with a year-round presence. Neither Fogel nor Pellegrini expressed great optimism about finding funding to restore the 13 weeks of live broadcasts cut by WFMT. The stations of the WFMT Fine Arts Network are being asked to help, but Fogel said "I don't believe we realistically expect enough money to maintain a 52-week season."

As part of a staff reorganization, the CSO announced that G. Michael Gehret, vice president for development at the CSO since 1993, will take on additional responsibilities as head of the CSO's public relations and marketing activities, beginning September 1. Under the new structure, Gehret will be responsible for most of the CSO's contributed and earned income. Fogel said he expected that the reorganization would be complete by the beginning of the 1994-95 season.

The CSO earlier announced that Joyce Idema, director of marketing and public relations since 1980, would retire on September 1.

Milwaukee Symphony: Fundraising for Hall Renovation Continues

Steve Marcus, chairman of the War Memorial Performing Arts Center Silver Renaissance Campaign, announced that the campaign had received pledges of $7,918,728 towards a total goal of $12.7 million to fund renovations at the Performing Arts Center.

The PAC, which is owned and operated by Milwaukee County, is currently in the process of an exterior renovation, costing approximately $9 million and funded by the county, to replace the crumbling marble cladding of the building with more durable material. The renovations funded by the Silver Renaissance Campaign will focus on the interior of the structure, and include a new loading dock, improvements in the acoustics of Uihlein Hall (the main venue at the PAC), renovation of the heating and ventilation systems, and new audience amenities. The first phase of the interior renovation is already underway, with the south side of the building being extended southwards. The renovation, which has already posed significant scheduling problems for the MSO, has rendered the PAC virtually unusable for the summer.

As part of the contract settlement reached in March, the musicians of the Milwaukee Symphony agreed to give up the seven weeks of their season that were scheduled, in past years, during the summer. For the past six seasons, the MSO had performed its summer season at the PAC. The renovations scheduled for this summer were not cited by MSO management as a reason for wanting to cut the orchestra's season, and musicians' income, by 15%.

The PAC is the major performing venue of the Milwaukee Symphony, the Florentine Opera, and the Milwaukee Ballet.

National Endowment for the Arts: Senate Votes to Cut Budget

On July 26, the United States Senate approved an appropriations bill that would cut the budget of the National Endowment for the Arts by 5%, or $8.5 million, for the fiscal year 1995. The NEA's budget for FY 94 was $170 million.

The Senate's proposed budget reduction would most seriously impact the budgets of three NEA programs: visual arts, performing arts, and presenting and commissioning. Funding for these programs would be reduced by 40%.

Senator Robert C. Byrd (Democrat, West Virginia), chairman of the Senate committee which recommended the cuts, said on July 25 that his intention was "to remove the problems that have been creating controversy," apparently referring to controversial performances and exhibits that have been supported by the NEA in recent years. He quoted the following passage from Shakespeare's "Richard II:" "I shall root away the noisome weeds which without profit suck the soil's fertility from wholesome flowers." (Shakespeare wrote before the term "non-profit" was in the common lexicon.)

Senator Byrd has also made more conciliatory remarks, saying that he would approach the House-Senate conference committee, which will reconcile the Senate bill with the 2% cut voted by the House, with an open mind. He said "I simply want to do what is best for the NEA and for the arts."

National Symphony Orchestra of Vietnam to Tour US

The National Symphony Orchestra of Vietnam is planning its first foreign tour in the fall of 1995. Concerts are planned for several Asian cities, including Tokyo, and a number of US cities. Tour planners hope to add concerts in Washington DC, Boston, and Chicago to events planned in New York to honor the 50th anniversary of the founding of the United Nations.

Among the many problems the orchestra faces are a dearth of quality instruments and pay scales that are low even by Vietnamese standards. The principal conductor, Do Dzung, earns $35 per month, and the orchestra's 70 musicians earn between $20 and $25 per month. Most of the musicians also actively teach and freelance, some in jazz groups.

Philadelphia Orchestra: Mayor Offers to Mediate Dispute

Philadelphia Mayor Rendell has offered to mediate the dispute between the Philadelphia Orchestra, other arts groups, and several major philanthropists over the proposed renovations to the Academy of Music.

At issue is a major makeover of the historic facility, complete with a floating "mother ship" that would function both as sound reflector for orchestra concerts and stage floor for ballet and opera productions, movable opera boxes, and replacement of the existing ceiling with a raised metal dome. The Opera Company of Philadelphia and the Pennsylvania Ballet have both protested the proposed changes, stating that they would negatively impact their ability to mount productions in the Academy. As well, some critics claim that, in light of the new hall planned by the Philadelphia Orchestra, major changes to the Academy to improve the acoustics for orchestral performance don't make sense. The National Park Service has also hinted that the Academy's status as a historic landmark could be jeopardized by the proposed renovation.

Rendell said that any renovation plan "must be done in a way consistent with the needs of the opera and ballet, who are going to be the two primary tenants" after the Philadelphia Orchestra moves into its new hall. "In fact, the city desperately needs those two venues to create the type of critical mass that will allow us to bring more shows and more performances down the Avenue of the Arts," he said.

Officials of the orchestra and the Academy released a statement saying that a committee of the orchestra's board will "fine-tune the recommendations." This may understate the difficulty involved in reconciling the desires of the orchestra, the ballet, the opera, and the donors who have offered $20 million specifically for the proposed renovation.

San Francisco Symphony: Off the Air

The recent sale of Bay Area classical music station KKHI not only deprived listeners of one of two classical stations in the area; it also knocked the San Francisco Symphony and the Metropolitan Opera off the air in the Bay Area. Negotiations are currently underway with KDFC to restore both series for the 1994-95 season, with the chances of success looking better for the SF Symphony broadcasts. The Met broadcasts, which are syndicated on a live-only basis, are more problematic than the orchestra broadcasts, as they would take up a Saturday morning time slot,while the orchestra broadcasts, done on a tape-delay basis, can be shifted to a less desirable spot in the schedule.
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