DOS Orchestra #34 - 25-March, 1995

News from the world of professional orchestras.
Copyright 1995, International Conference of Symphony and Opera Musicians

Topics

Bolshoi Ballet: Dancers on Strike

Dancers with the Bolshoi Ballet have struck for the first time in the company's history, stopping work right before a performance of Prokofiev's "Romeo and Juliet" on March 10.

The strike came one day after the company's artistic director and chief ballet master Yuri Grigorovich quit over a dispute over company operations after 30 years with the company. Grigorovich told the Itar-Tass news agency that he decided to quit after learning that Russian deputy prime minister Yuri Yarov had informed company staff that director-general Vladimir Kokonin would continue to run the company.

Kokonin suspended 15 dancers who struck the March 10 performance. The scheduled performance on March 12 went on without the 15 suspended dancers. Kokonin threatened to hold any future strikers liable for losses to the company.

Prima ballerina Natalya Arkhipova told Reuter that "we have been pushed to this first and foremost by our director, who for 10 months has kept us under pressure and almost threatened us with dismissal. Then there has been the constant talk of the change of leadership." She described the problem as "a conflict between a bureaucrat and the whole artistic collective."

The strike follows an earlier demonstration by members of the company, in which a performance of "Giselle" on December 8 was postponed for 20 minutes by a protest by the members of the company over pay and management.

Instead of the overture, the evening started with a member of the company addressing the audience about how the Russian government had ignored two no-confidence votes taken by the company members about Kokonin.

Cincinnati Chamber Orchestra: Lockhart Re-ups

Keith Lockhart, music director of the Cincinnati Chamber Orchestra, associate conductor of the Cincinnati Symphony, and recently appointed conductor of the Boston Pops, has signed a new two-year agreement with the CCO that will take him through the 1996-97 season. Terms of the agreement were not disclosed.

Kennedy Center Head Nominated to World Bank

James D. Wolfensohn, head of the Kennedy Center (Washington DC), home of the National Symphony, the Washington Opera, and the Kennedy Center Orchestra, has been nominated by President Bill Clinton to head the World Bank. Wolfensohn, 61, would replace Lewis T. Preston, who has been ill.

Wolfensohn, who is a native of Australia, is a well-known international investment banker. Prior to his position with the Kennedy Center, Wolfensohn was chairman of Carnegie Hall.

It is not clear whether Wolfensohn will leave the Kennedy Center position. Kennedy Center president Lawrence Wilker, told the Washington "Post" that "no one has said, including Jim, that he has any intention of stepping aside. He ran an international banking business while chairman, and it's logical to assume he could also do the same as president of the World Bank. Obviously it would be our preference to retain him if we could."

Wolfensohn has been credited by members of the center's board for revitalizing the facility. Wilker told the "Post" that "the institution is a different place than it was when he came here. He stepped into an institution that was bankrupt financially, in a terrible state of deterioration physically, and on the decline in fund-raising. And he helped to turn all that around." He has also been praised for being an effective fundraiser and lobbyist on behalf of the center, which receives substantial federal subsidies.

His tenure at the Kennedy Center has been marked by some friction with the resident unions, culminating in 1993 with a strike by the musicians of the Kennedy Center Orchestra. The strike led to performances of "Phantom of the Opera" accompanied only by a pre-recorded tape, as well as concerts at the center by the National Symphony, the Baltimore Symphony, and the Berlin Philharmonic being canceled because the orchestras refused to cross picket lines set up by the Kennedy Center orchestra musicians.

Los Angeles Philharmonic: DASH to Concerts

from the Downtown Marketing Council of Los Angeles:

A trip to the Music Center becomes a full evening of entertainment Downtown with the March 10 launch of the DASH Downtown Dinner & Spotlight Express.

This new shuttle service will also include stops at MOCA and California Plaza, where free evening programming is featured on selected nights.

"By providing such a convenient and easily accessible service, we hope to encourage theater patrons to explore Downtown and discover for themselves that it's a safe and attractive place," said Randall Villareal, president of the board, Downtown Marketing Council of Los Angeles.

The new express shuttle will enable theater-goers to avoid parking hassles and traffic congestion by parking and dining at their choice of 11 popular Downtown restaurants. The DASH express shuttle will transport patrons comfortably and conveniently to and from the Music Center. The clean white mini-buses with lavender and blue striping will operate at 10-minute intervals Tuesday through Saturday nights from 6:30 p.m. to 11:30 p.m.

"The Downtown Marketing Council and participating restaurants are to be commended for organizing this shuttle," said Ninth District Councilmember Rita Walters. "I'm looking forward to future projects in which the City can work with the DMC and local businesses to promote the strengths of Downtown."

The following participating restaurants are providing complimentary round-trip vouchers to diners: Bernard's, Checkers, Ciao Trattoria, Engine Co. No. 28, Nicola, Otto Rothschild's, Sai Sai, Tesoro, The Pavilion, Top of Five and Water Grill. Those not dining at a participating restaurant pay 25 cents each way.

This shuttle program is expected to attract L.A. Opera, L.A. Philharmonic, L.A. Master Chorale, Mark Taper Forum and Ahmanson audiences. This six-month pilot program may be expanded to encompass other restaurants and Downtown-area theaters.

This first-of-its-kind collaboration of area restaurants is underwritten by participating restaurants and organized by the Downtown Marketing Council of Los Angeles, with the cooperation of the City of L.A. Department of Transportation (LADOT) and the support of the City of L.A. Ninth Council District.

Louisville Orchestra: Talks Continue

The board of the Louisville Orchestra, which threatened on January 30 to close down the orchestra unless the musicians agreed to its proposal for downsizing the orchestra by March 7, announced on March 9, after two days of negotiations with the musicians, that it was willing to resume discussions with the musicians, but at the same time authorized its 18-member negotiating committee to terminate the labor agreement for next season if a new agreement for next year was not reached with the musicians.

The current labor agreement allows the board to terminate operations should the board not believe there are sufficient funds to continue. Such a decision would go to arbitration if the musicians filed a formal objection to the board's decision.

Orchestra board president Carol Hebel told the Louisville "Courier-Journal" that "we want to go back to the table with the players, and we want this orchestra to go on." But she said that the board's negotiating committee was given "permission to terminate the contract if we cannot work anything out in the next few weeks."

Sue Carroll, the head of the musicians' negotiating committee, told the "Courier-Journal" that she was "optimistic only that the board did not choose to invoke the termination clause and kill the orchestra right now... [but] I am a little bit concerned about the implied deadline."

Talks were held on March 5 and 6 in Chicago. The negotiations were mediated by Henry Fogel, executive director of the Chicago Symphony. During the talks, the musicians expressed a willingness to make salary concessions for the upcoming two seasons. Carroll told the "Courier-Journal" that Fogel "convinced us that the budgets that management projected have somewhat more validity than we previously agreed... but we certainly don't agree with all of management's projections for next season." Orchestra management has projected a deficit of $452,000 for next season without the changes they propose, a figure that the musicians have vigorously disputed.

Management's response to the musicians' offer of further salary concessions was unyielding. Jonathan Goldberg, the orchestra board's general counsel, told the "Courier-Journal" that "it's clear that their proposal in some respect offers some money, which indicates that if they believed the deficit wasn't real, they would have stuck to their guns."

According to Carroll, management has offered little change in their original proposal. She said "they said you could have 48 [full-time] players and 19 part-timers," but that management would make up some or all of the additional expense over their original proposal of 45 full-time and 22 part-time musicians by reducing the length of the season and paid vacation time. The orchestra currently consists of 67 full-time musicians, three fewer than the orchestra's complement in recent seasons.

Both sides have said that they would welcome Fogel's continued involvement. According to the "Courier-Journal," Fogel has agreed to come to Louisville at some unspecified time to examine the orchestra's operations.

The Robert and Clarita Whitney Fund, set up last month by Clarita Whitney, widow of the orchestra's founding conductor, to assist the orchestra in covering the deficit of $452,000 that management projects for next season, has succeeded in raising $35,000 so far. Hebel said that she would "welcome" any funds raised by the Whitney Fund, and that she would support "keeping the orchestra as it is" for next season if the fund was able to raise its goal of $450,000 by June 1. The orchestra's retiring music director, Lawrence Leighton Smith, has agreed to participate in fundraising events next month.

National Endowment: Rescission Vote Looms

from the American Arts Alliance:

Following the Administration's FY 96 budget presentation, House Republicans began meeting to rollback FY 95 spending in a process known as rescissions. The House Appropriations Committee, chaired by Robert Livingston (R-LA), on March 2 agreed to a $17 billion package that includes a $5 million reduction for both the NEA and NEH. If approved, the NEA would lose $1 million from its administration budget and $4 million from unobligated program funds, and would be directed to eliminate funding, to the maximum extent possible, for individual fellowships, with the exception of Heritage Award fellowships to folk artists. The plan is expected to be debated by the full House of Representatives sometime during the week of March 13 and then move to the Senate for consideration.

While painful, the cuts could have been more drastic given the current congressional climate to downsize the federal government. NEA opponents have indicated that they may seek deeper when the full House votes on the rescissions package the week of March 13. This vote is important because it likely will set the tone for what will be a series of votes this year that will impact on both the NEA and NEH.

from Tom Lee, secretary-treasurer of the DC Federation of Musicians, Local 161-710 AFM:

Local 161-710's office was closed today (March 13). The Officers and staff spent the entire day at the Capitol lobbying along with hundreds of other arts advocates (including Kenny G, Michael Bolton, Garth Brooks, and Christopher Reeve) as we participated in Arts Advocacy Day. A rally was held at 4:00 P.M. in which the Local supplied a band as well as sound for at least 700 gathered advocates.

St. Paul Chamber Orchestra: Stern Speaks to Solons

Isaac Stern, in St. Paul (MN) to solo with the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra, spoke to the Minnesota State Legislature on March 9 on behalf of state funding for the arts.

Stern, who was introduced by State Senator Richard Cohen, chair of the State Government Division of the Finance Committee, told the legislators that "with the political events of the last election, there has been a concerted move to attack funding of the arts. Why? Why take on the arts as the whipping boy?... the idea that the arts are only for the wealthy, for the well-positioned, is sheer garbage. The arts are not an occasional social ornament. They are basic to a civilized life." He described the arts in America as representing "perhaps the single highest standard of performance anywhere in the world."

Stern emphasized the role of the arts in education. He said "I've spent my life making music and talking with the violin - making love, if you will - from the stage, through music. In the meantime, I've also been part of the lives of innumerable young people. Now, every one of you that has anything to do with the law of your land, the law of your state, with the quality of life here, has to recognize that the single greatest wealth this country has is the talent and the ability and the desire of its young people... vote with your hearts."

This was not Stern's first visit to the Minnesota State Legislature. He spoke to the body in 1981, when he spent two weeks with the SPCO at the invitation of then-music director Pinchas Zukerman.

Toledo Symphony: New Associate Conductor

Andrew Sewell has been appointed associate conductor of the Toledo (OH) Symphony Orchestra effective September 1995.

Sewell, 31, has been assistant conductor of the Memphis Symphony since August 1994. While in Memphis, he also conducted the Memphis Youth Symphony and taught music history at Christian Brothers High School.

Sewell, who is a native of New Zealand, lived in Michigan before coming to Memphis and conducted the Toledo orchestra on several occasions. He told the Memphis "Commercial Appeal" that "this has been a very happy year, and I've got no regrets. It's a great crowd of people, and I've particularly enjoyed working with the youth symphony and seeing it flourish."

Wichita Falls Symphony: On Strike

Musicians of the Wichita Falls (TX) Symphony went on strike on March 11 over management's refusal to recognize the Dallas-Fort Worth Musicians Association, Local 721-47 AFM, as the sole bargaining agent for the musicians. Negotiations broke down on February 27, according to symphony president Gail Natale. She told the Wichita Falls "Times Record" that "because of our budget and our size, we fall into an exception [in the federal labor laws], so we are under Texas' law, whih has a right-to-work provision that prevents acceptance of the union's universal representation demands." Union president Ray Hair termed the board's position "pure fantasy - a fabrication concocted to keep from having to bargain with the union." He told the "Times Record" that "I think it's time for the Wichita Falls management to wake up and smell the nachos."

In a highly unusual move, management proceeded with the concert on March 11 without the orchestra's musicians, using replacement non-union musicians and a guest conductor.

Women's Philharmonic: Financial Crisis Forces Cutbacks

The Women's Philharmonic (San Francisco/Berkeley) has canceled the last concert of its season, as well as a planned recording project, due to an accumulated deficit of $100,000. JoAnne Falleta, its music director for nine seasons, will step down to become the orchestra's artistic advisor.

The 65-player orchestra, which has been in existence for fourteen years, has lost several staff members recently due to budget cuts, while the executive director position has been vacant since last July. The orchestra's budget has dropped from $700,000 last season to a projected figure of $500,000 for this season. A spokesperson for the orchestra claimed that the cancelled concert would have added another $40,000 or more to the projected deficit.

The Women's Philharmonic plays mostly music composed by women. Most of its guest artists are also women, as are its members. The orchestra also underwrites the National Women Composers Resource Center.

The orchestra's orchestra committee released a statement that said in part that they were "saddened by the recent turn of events" but that they hoped that "the future accomplishments of the Women's Philharmonic will enable all women artists to have their voices heard."
Copyright 1995, International Conference of Symphony and Opera Musicians

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