DOS Orchestra #50 - 30 January, 96

News from the world of professional orchestras.
Copyright 1996, International Conference of Symphony and Opera Musicians

Topics

Czech Philharmonic: Conductor Demands Apology

from C A R O L I N A No 187, Friday, January 26, 1996:

Czech Philharmonic Orchestra General Conductor Gerd Albrecht canceled the recording of Smetana's ~My Homeland~ and instead will meet the press in Prague's Rudolfinum January 30. It is expected Albrecht will make a statement regarding his position in the Orchestra after being partially deprived of his authorities by the new statute approved by Minister of Culture Pavel Tigrid (See Carolina 186).

Albrecht's letter to President Vaclav Havel, published in January 24's Czech daily ~Lidove noviny~, reacted to Havel's interview in Berliner daily ~Der Tagespiegel~ January 15, where Havel expressed his view that the Orchestra has fallen into a state of disrepair and crisis during Albrecht's era. Albrecht considers Havel's evaluation of the orchestra's artistic qualities insulting, and asked for an apology. Among others, Albrecht reproached Havel for not attending the gala concert for 100th anniversary of the Czech Philharmonic on January 4. (Also Prime Minister Vaclav Klaus was not present.)

The presidential office announced Havel did not received the letter yet, and that "the uncommon way of correspondence with the president, as well as the tone of the letter, rule out the possibility of Havel reacting to it." The Czech press first reported on Albrecht's letter January 23, quoting the German wire agency DPA.

Lida Truneckova/Milan Smid

Colorado Symphony: General Manager Fired, May Sue

Colorado Symphony general manager Tom Peterson has been terminated by executive director Larry Deutsch, the Rocky Mountain ~News~ reported on January 11. One day earlier, the paper had reported that Peterson was "stepping down."

Peterson told the paper that Deutsch told him on December 27 that he was fired, effective immediately. He said that the firing was in violation of an agreement signed when he was hired that a 15-day notice of dismissal would be presented in writing.

Peterson, who was marketing director for the Denver Zoo before joining the CSO staff, said that he was considering filing suit against the orchestra. "I'm not going to let my reputation be tarnished," Peterson told the ~News~.

Deutsch, who joined the orchestra along with Peterson in September, said that Peterson's position would not be filled, but that his workload would be assumed by CSO staffpersons Valerie York and Karen Sawecki.

Hawaii Symphony: Back to Work as the Honolulu Symphony

from the ~Bugle~, the newsletter of the musicians of the Hawaii Symphony:

The musicians of the last two professional orchestras in Hawaii have returned to work as of December 27, 1995 as the Honolulu Symphony Orchestra once again. The musicians had been laid off except for some per-service work for Nutcracker and the Messiah since mid-September. A contract for the the remainder of the 95-96 season and the 96-97 season was completed with the Hawaii Symphony Orchestra board. After those negotiations were completed the Hawaii Symphony Orchestra board stepped out of the way to let the Honolulu Symphony Society produce the remainder of the already set-up 95-96 season. The two boards will consolidate into the Honolulu Symphony Society over an as yet undetermined period of time.

The Hawaii Symphony Orchestra, which was founded after the Honolulu Symphony Society fired all of its musicians in the Spring of 1994, never really solidified itself as an institution. From the beginning, everything needed to go right for the new orchestra to survive. Things rarely went right, and the musicians have paid dearly. The State of Hawaii pulled almost $1 million in funding, and the City and County of Honolulu pulled $75,000 in funding in the 95-96 season. Some questionable management buried the orchestra even further. The board was unable to raise money, partially because of their internal problems, and partially because community leaders took a "wait and see" attitude and refused to have anything to do with the new orchestra as long as both the Honolulu Symphony Society and the Hawaii Symphony Orchestra existed. All of this brings the orchestra to where it is today, which is virtually starting over.

The contract for the next two years reflects the reality of the situation: Year 1: 10 weeks; 4 more weeks contingent on the opening of the Hawaii Theater (a newly renovated theater in Honolulu), 3 of the contingent weeks will be paid at a 6 services per week pro-rated salary, instead of the usual 8 services per week.

Year 2: 18 weeks. Neither year includes opera, which is negotiated directly with the Hawaii Opera Theater (they have sub-contracted the orchestra from the Symphony Society in the past). The opera contract is reported separately.

The weeks in both years will be non-consecutive, although best efforts will be made to make them as consecutive as possible (this is partially due to venue availability, which has been a continuing problem for the orchestra for years).

Base pay remains at $714.30 per week in both years of the contract. The full time contingent of musicians remains at 62. There will be a reduction of guaranteed number of services for part-time musicians from 60 to 50 for the first year only.

Also included with the basics above: Musicians will have equal say in the process of hiring an executive director and music director; these positions will be filled by the beginning of the 1996-97 season. A minimum of 10 members of the Hawaii Symphony Orchestra board of directors will be asked to serve on the Honolulu Symphony Society board of directors. For the first year of the contract a work week will be defined as 7 consecutive days beginning on Wednesday (this could affect unemployment, especially considering the non-consecutive week possibilities in the season). In the second year the work week is defined as beginning on Sunday.

The contract with the Hawaii Opera Theater (HOT) is for one year only and covers an actual 6 weeks of work (we have done between 8-10 weeks of work for the opera the past two years, but their funding was cut severely by the state and they ran a deficit last year). It is based on a contract that the Musicians' Association of Hawaii, Local #677 AFM had with HOT in 1994 (during the time the musicians were between being fired by the Honolulu Symphony Society and starting up the Hawaii Symphony Orchestra). The opera board made a decision not to sub-contract from the symphony society and negotiate their own collective bargaining agreement with Local #677.

The orchestra size once again came under attack in these negotiations, but settlement was reached at 62 musicians in the full-time opera core orchestra. Any extra musicians are hired for at least a one week minimum (and paid at least the weekly minimum) and any services after that week are paid at the per service minimum. Minimum salary is $714.30 per week and all personal or contractual overscales paid by the Honolulu Symphony Society will also be paid by the opera. The opera will cover all insurance costs during the time we work for the opera - same as the contract with the Honolulu Symphony Society. Sick leave is at 2 days for the 6 week contract, while personal leave (paid) is at 1 day. Unpaid audition leave is 10 days.

Still to be dealt with is the issue of the back pay owed the musicians by the Hawaii Symphony Orchestra (this amounts to a minimum of $16,000 per full time musician), over $100,000 in pension payments owed to AFM-EP, and the IRS/State/FICA withholding obligation of approximately $250,000 (money withheld from the musicians' paychecks, but never forwarded to the IRS/State/FICA by management). The Honolulu Symphony Society has said they will assume no debts of the Hawaii Symphony Orchestra.

The Hawaii Symphony board is in a very poor position to raise any money to cover any of these obligations, and unfortunately the IRS has first say on any assets available to make these payments. The pension payment falls under federal pension law, but it is unclear what kind of enforcement of those laws would occur if the organization dissolved or filed for bankruptcy. The musicians have little hope that all of our back pay will be forthcoming, but we are still working on getting some of it.

Needless to say this is not a good contract for the musicians, but it is the best possible agreement available. We are essentially starting over with the institutional memory in many areas of the management virtually gone. It was clear that if the orchestra did not start with the services on December 27, 1995 that the orchestra would not start up again for a long time. The solidarity of the orchestra is still strong. The musicians are still taking care of each other. A lot of hope is being placed in Michael Tiknis presence as the interim executive director. A lot of businesses have stepped forward already to support the Honolulu Symphony - businesses that had not previously supported the Hawaii Symphony Orchestra. The opening sets of concerts have been well attended and received, and the first payroll was on time after some significant fundraising by the board.

The negotiating committee consisted of Ann Lillya, Scott Janusch, Duane White, Mel Whitney, Steve Dinion (Chair) and Milton Carter (President, Local #677). The musicians owe a great deal of thanks to the Musician's Association of Hawaii, Milton and Michael Largarticha (Local #677 board member and assistant to the president) and Local #677 staff. Their support has been steadfast and true throughout all of our struggles. Also special thanks are owed Lew Waldeck, Lenny Leibowitz, Fred Zenone, ICSOM leadership and all of the ICSOM orchestras that sent money and words of support and encouragement.

Kansas City Symphony: New General Manager

The Kansas City Symphony has hired Mary Watkins as General Manager, orchestra officials announced on January 15. Watkins replaces Lois Robinson.

Watkins comes to the orchestra from the Charlotte Symphony, where she served as general manager since 1993. Prior to that, she had been general manager of the San Antonio Symphony from 1988 to 1993. She joined that orchestra as a horn player after graduating from the Eastman School of Music.

La Fenice: Venice Opera House Burns to the Ground

Venice's opera house La Fenice ("The Phoenix") was destroyed by fire on January 29. Firemen took over five hours to control the blaze and prevent it from spreading to nearby buildings. Their task was made more difficult by the fact that the canal on which La Fenice stood had been drained for dredging. Helicopters were called in to carry water from the Lagoon to spray on the burning building.

La Fenice was built in 1792, replacing an opera house that had been destroyed by fire 20 years earlier. It was destroyed by fire in 1836 but was rebuilt a year later. Luciano Pavarotti, speaking on Italian television after the fire, described the theater as "our jewel... architecturally, it was the most beautiful theater in Italy. You can imagine what this loss means to an opera singer, even though we hope it will be temporary and that this bird, the phoenix, will really rise again."

La Fenice hosted the premiere of many of Verdi's operas, including "Rigoletto" in 1851 and "La Traviata" in 1853.

The theater had been undergoing renovations and was scheduled to reopen on March 1 with a performance by Woody Allen and his jazz band. Venice deputy mayor Gianfranc Bettin told reporters that "the tragic irony is that the fire was presumably caused by work to sort out the fireproofing installations." There were no serious injuries from the fire.

Estimates of the cost to rebuild the theater range to upwards of $300 million.

Los Angeles Philharmonic: Fleischmann to Retire

Ernest Fleischmann, who has managed the Los Angeles Philharmonic since 1969, announced on January 26 that he intends to step down from his position as the orchestra's executive vice president and managing director in 1997.

Fleischmann, 71, said that he would continue his association with the orchestra as a consultant.

Fleischmann has long been regarded as one of the most powerful and controversial of American orchestra managers, and has built the Los Angeles orchestra into one of the country's most financially successful musical institutions. Much of his reputation for controversy stemmed from a 1987 commencement address he gave at the Cleveland Institute of music titled "The Symphony Orchestra is Dead; Long Live the Community of Musicians," in which he called for a radical rethinking of the orchestral institution.

Fleischmann, a native of Frankfurt, trained for a conducting career under Albert Coates and held several conducting positions in Europe and South Africa. Prior to joining the Los Angeles Philharmonic, he had served as manager of the London Symphony Orchestra and had also worked for CBS Masterworks records.

Metropolitan Opera: Tenor Dies During Performance

A tenor singing the role of Vitek in Janacek's "Makropolous Case" collapsed and died in the middle of a solo scene during the Metropolitan Opera's performance on January 5. Richard Versalle, 63 suffered an apparent heart attack before letting go from the ladder he was on and falling 10 feet to the stage, landing motionless on his back with his arms outstretched. After the curtain was quickly lowered, conductor David Robertson turned to the audience and announced that the performance would be delayed for 20 minutes. General manager Joseph Volpe then came on stage and canceled the performance, only the third time in the company's history it had done so after the beginning of a performance.

National Endowment for the Arts: Funding, Staffing Slashed

The National Endowment for the Arts has announced that it will cut its staff from 279 to 148 and eliminate its programs to fund ongoing support and specific disciplines. The NEA will instead fund four newly-created categories: Heritage and Preservation, Education and Access, Creation and Presentation; and Planning and Stabilization. All grant applications must be for a specific project and time frame, and organizations will be permitted only one grant application per year. In addition, the highest possible award will be $500,000, half the previous $1 million maximum, and requirements for groups to raise matching funds will be more stringent. Grants to individual artists will be eliminated completely, except for grants to jazz masters, writers, and folk-art masters.

The cutbacks are in response to cuts in the NEA's budget mandated by the Republican-controlled Congress, which reduced the agency's budget from $162 million to $99.5 million for fiscal year 1996. NEA chair Jane Alexander said that the cuts "put us back in spending power to 1972".

The agency's future doesn't look much brighter than its present. House Speaker Newt Gingrich has vowed to "zero-out" the agency, while its funding is included in the Department of the Interior appropriations bill, currently part of the U.S. budget impasse.

New York City Opera: New Artistic Director

Paul Kellogg, artistic director of the Glimmerglass Opera in Cooperstown (NY) since 1979, has been appointed general and artistic director of the New York City Opera, company officials announced on January 11.

Kellogg, 58, signed a five-year contract with the company. He will continue as artistic director of Glimmerglass but will give up his administrative responsibilities there.

As artistic director, Kellogg will assume many of the responsibilities of Christopher Keene, who was the company's artistic director and chief conductor until his death in October.The company plans to appoint a music director to assume Keene's conducting responsibilities. The company is also looking for an executive director to replace Mark J. Weinstein, who is leaving to join the National Artists Management Company.

Kellogg's unusual dual appointment as artistic director of two opera companies is not expected to result in scheduling conflicts, as Glimmerglass only performs in the summer, while the New York City Opera no longer has a summer season. In addition, the two companies expect to share a number of productions.

Kellogg told the New York ~Times~ that he wants to maintain the company's commitment to programming unusual repertoire, and also talked about programming more Massenet and early Mozart, as well as reducing the company's commitment to operetta. He also told the ~Times~ that he was leaning towards reducing the number of productions the company stages without reducing the number of performances. The company performed 114 performances of 15 different productions in its most recent season.

During Kellogg's tenure at Glimmerglass, the company's budget grew from $70,000 to $3.5 million. The company moved into its new home, the Alice Busch Opera Theater, in 1987, and recently completed a $6 million capital campaign.

Kellogg, a native of California, studied literature at the Sorbonne and the University of Nancy in France, as well as at the University of Texas and Columbia University. He is the first artistic director of the New York City Opera without a background in performance.

OPERA America: Nozze di Webaro

from OPERA America ~Newsline~, January 1996:

OPERA American has made great strides in formulating a comprehensive telecommunications strategy for the field of opera. In addition to the internal improvements, such as Internet e-mail for all staff members previously reported in ~Newsline~, OPERA American has begun the creation of a telecommunications and online service for the entire membership of the association.

The beginning of this service takes the form of an OPERA American web site, now available at http://www.tmn.com/Artswire/operaam/opera.html. In addition to narrative information, our home page also includes links to OPERA American members' home pages, and will soon contain database and other information, including the OPERA American ~Set and Costume Directory~. New features and improvements will be added regularly, toward the goal of creating an authoritative, central site for opera on the World Wide Web.

In addition, OPERA America has created a service providing our members the opportunity to take advantage of this important technology. In partnership with a high technology vendor, OPERA American will offer any member the opportunity to create a sophisticated, professional, opera-specific, home page on the World Wide Web. Meetings and negotiations are underway for the service, which will also address such issues as publicity, marketing, and ticket sales via the Internet, as well as training and documentation.

Philadelphia Orchestra: Finance Director Quits

Thomas L. Lussenhop, vice president of finance and administration for the Philadelphia Orchestra, has resigned his position and will leave the orchestra on March 1, orchestra president Joseph H. Kluger announced on January 23. Lussenhop joined the orchestra's staff in September 1995.

Kluger told the Philadelphia ~Inquirer~ that he was "absolutely" disappointed to see Lussenhop leave. "Tom felt that his skills and abilities didn't match up as well as I did with the job... he's made a personal decision that this is not the right job for him," Kluger said.

Prior to coming to Philadelphia, Lussenhop, 36, had been vice-president of the New Jersey Performing Arts Center, a $165 million complex in Newark scheduled to open in 1997, until he resigned from his position in 1994. He told the ~Inquirer~ that he was not sorry to be leaving the orchestra and that his decision to resign was "personal and private" and had nothing to do with the orchestra's financial situation.

The orchestra is currently in the midst of several major fundraising campaigns, including raising $144 million for a new hall, $30 million to renovate the Academy of Music, and an endowment campaign. Lussenhop was hired partly to help the orchestra coordinate its fundraising efforts.

San Diego Symphony: No Bankruptcy for Now

The San Diego Symphony has abandoned its plans for filing for bankruptcy, orchestra officials announced on January 23. Elsie Weston, president of the orchestra's board and acting CEO, said "as of today, we have a new plan; no Chapter 7 or 11 now." As for what would replace the bankruptcy plans, Weston provided no specifics, only stating that new short- and long-term programs had been submitted to the board and the musicians. The programs were developed by a small group of community business leaders.

The plans were to be voted on by both the board, which includes two musicians, and the orchestra on January 30. Weston said that the plans might be made public after the votes. She also denied rumors that a major donor had volunteered to save the orchestra, although she said that talks with potential donors were continuing.

Weston, in an interview with the San Diego ~Daily Transcript~, reiterated her position that the board would not bow to demands from members of the City Council and others that the board resign. "I'll make it clear again," said Weston. "We need a cash infusion of $3 million - hard cash, not pledges - to activate the short-term revival of the organization. And when we get it, the board of the symphony will be the ones to administer it."

"It seems the whole spirit of the symphony board has taken a positive turn," Councilman Harry Mathis told the ~Daily Transcript~. "If confidence can be restored, then the necessary donors will come forward and the positive spirit will spread ... Clearly we need a short-range plan to get the symphony back in action and a long-range plan to keep it going in the future. I don't tend to jump in with gratuitous advice in areas that I'm not all that familiar with. Everything the council can legally do to support the symphony, we'll do. If they present a business plan and then ask for certain assurances that we can provide, I'm sure it will be forthcoming. I think the public has to have confidence that we're interested in saving the symphony. There's a strong feeling among the council that we want to save it."

Weston said that there was a possibility the orchestra could resume operations in time for concerts scheduled for the first weekend of February.

Pinchas Zukerman, Yefim Bronfman, and Emmanuel Ax have all volunteered to perform benefit concerts for the orchestra, Weston said.

People

Pierre Boulez, composer and principal guest conductor of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, has won Sweden's Polar Music Prize, awarded annually by the Royal Swedish Academy of Music. He will receive the award, worth 1 million Swedish crowns ($147,500) from the King of Sweden in May.

Boulez, 70, won because "his profound musicality, clear intelligence, and unusual farsightedness have enabled him to act in a wider field than the great majority," the academy said.

Rock singer and composer Joni Mitchell was also awarded the prize. Past winners include Paul McCartney, Dizzy Gillespie and Elton John.

The Conductors' Guild, an American organization for orchestra conductors, gave Boulez its annual Theodore Thomas Award on January 7 during its meeting in Philadelphia. The award honored Boulez for his "lifetime contribution to the art," as well as for his work in educating young conductors.
Shirley Curtiss, who has taught many members of the bassoon sections of American orchestras during a 30-year career at Philadelphia's Settlement School, was awarded the Gruber Award at the national convention of of Chamber Music America on January 14.

Deaths

Saul Goodman, dean of American timpanists and the longest-serving principal in the history of the New York Philharmonic, died on January 26 in Palm Beach (FL). He was 89.

Goodman, a native of Brooklyn, began his timpani studies at age 14 with Alfred Friese, principal timpanist with the Philharmonic, but was enrolled in a premedical course at New York University when Friese retired due to illness in 1926 and Goodman joined the orchestra at the age of 19. He continued to serve as the orchestra's principal timpanist for 46 years, retiring at the end of the 1972 concert season.

Goodman, who also served as the head of the percussion department at the Juilliard School for 41 years, was described as "the Heifetz of the timpani" by New York ~Times~ critic Harold Schonberg. He was also an accomplished instrument maker and woodworker, building his own drums as well as Leonard Bernstein's batons.

Goodman is survived by his companion, Millie Blumoff, two daughters, and three grandchildren.
Thruston Johnson, director of the International Festival Series and an emeritus of several American orchestras, died on January 25 in New York City at the age of 81.

Johnson, a native of Louisville, played as a violinist with the Chicago Symphony and the Pittsburgh and Kansas City orchestras, and also served as concertmaster of New York's Naumberg Symphony.

He is survived by his wife Evelyn.
Henry Lewis, the first African-American instrumentalist to be a member of a major American orchestra as well as the first black conductor to conduct the Metropolitan Opera and to serve as music director of a major American orchestra, died on January 26 at his home in Manhattan. He was 63.

At age 16, Lewis joined the Los Angeles Philharmonic as a bassist, becoming one of the youngest musicians to ever play in a major American orchestra. His conducting career began after he was drafted in 1954, when he become conductor of the Seventh Army Symphony in Stuttgart. After he left the Army, he was appointed assistant conductor with Los Angeles Philharmonic. While in Los Angeles, he also founded the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra.

In 1968, Lewis was appointed music director of the New Jersey Symphony and built the orchestra from a semi-professional group with an annual budget of $75,000 to a 92-member professional orchestra with a budget of $1.5 million, presenting over 100 concerts per season. He also dramatically expanded the orchestra's outreach programs, performing all over the state as well as in Newark's ghettos and working-class neighborhoods. He resigned as the orchestra's music director in 1976.

He made his debut at the Metropolitan Opera in 1972 on his 40th birthday. He also conducted the Met's 1975 tour of Japan, and maintained an active schedule guest-conducting American and European orchestras and opera companies.

Lewis was married to mezzo-soprano Marilyn Horne from 1960 to 1979. She wrote in her autobiography, 'Marilyn Horne: My Life,' (Athenaeum, 1983), that "Henry Lewis was my prophet and my teacher and my right hand... I certainly would have had a career without Henry, but it was he who really led me into the paths of bel canto. He labored and sweated and did everything he could to teach me the style."

Lewis is survived by their daughter, Angela Lewis.
Copyright 1996, International Conference of Symphony and Opera Musicians

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