On The One Hand, More Of The Same. On The Other, A Sane Proposal For Symphony Orchestras In The US

With the world seeming to burn down, it seems silly for OS to spend any energy on a seemingly minor subject.

Point taken. But, OS calls your attention to the masthead, his premise behind his scribbles.

It is important that this country have really good orchestras, operas, ballets, music schools, and the like. Music is important, and instrumental classical music is a big part of that.

The whole enterprise is on shaky ground these days, though. Many of the 'big' orchestras are running deficits, which cannot be sustained for the long term. Detroit has shut down, since the musicians decided to reject the latest offer. Louisville almost did, but the judge has demanded that management spend the endowment on the payroll. Good luck with that, ya'll. Charleston Symphony simply turned out the lights and shut the door last spring, and just restarted in December 2010.

Unionized orchestra musicians, like some others in the culture, have this unshakable belief that goes like this: I can do things like play the bassoon parts to all the Strauss tone-poems, perfectly, every time, come what may. I therefore should have a gig with an orchestra that will pay me a respectable income to do just that sort of thing. The orchestra gets its money from TheGreatMoneyTree, that endless flow of cash that emerges from the bottomless well of wealth in the government, and the other bottomless wells of wealth located in the corporate sector, and the concert-going public, who gratefully purchase tickets to hear me play the Strauss tone-poems. I have no other obligation to the city in which I live than to play my bassoon. The city is obliged to support me.

There was a day, say fifty years ago, when that model more-or-less held true.

It does not apply now.

This on musician troubles at the NYC Ballet:

Two performers' unions have teamed up to fight what they call "unacceptable labor relations policy" at the New York City Ballet.

The American Guild of Musical Artists and Local 802 of the American Federation of Musicians announced Thursday that their respective negotiating committees met on Jan. 24 to discuss ways to combat the ballet's "unacceptable approach to contract negotiations." AGMA represents dancers; Local 802 represents orchestra musicians. Members of both unions are working under contracts that expired in August.

In a joint statement, the unions said that they agreed to wage freezes last year "despite the fact that NYCB's fiscal problems seem to be caused by questionable artistic and administrative planning, by a development department that isn't raising enough money, and a publicity department that isn't selling enough tickets." The unions went on to call for a wage increase, describing a further freeze as "unacceptable" and saying that the two negotiating committees will meet again "to consider joint actions to compel City Ballet to address their respective members' needs in a more positive, acceptable manner."

Really, ya'll. Just can't make this stuff up. It's like we don't have a functional 20% unemployment rate, and management has its own Fed in the back office to go print it up sum moh' munny, hunny.

On the other hand, there is a voice of sanity out there, a most credible one at that:
Tony Woodcock, President of New England Conservatory.

Instead of over-specialization and the exclusive pursuit of perfection dictated by the demands of the recording industry, let us instead strive for excellence, a broader set of skills for our musicians, and a new responsibility by our musicians to the community. Instead of musical technicians, let us mold what the founder of “El Sistema” calls “apostles to society.” Let’s release our musicians’ creative potential in a directed and synergistic way for a whole community. Musicians are brilliant and wonderful people and can do anything; we need to trust their judgment and direction and creativity. Music schools have begun taking steps to prepare young musicians for such a future. Excellent musicianship continues, of course, to be a given and students graduate with ever more impressive chops.

I cannot think of another industry where there is no relationship between the employers and the trainers. For the future, this really needs to change and I believe the key words are “partnerships” and “collaborations”—orchestral partnerships with music schools, and orchestral collaborations within the community. To facilitate these, we need to tear up all those restrictive collective bargaining agreements and create a context of flexibility and trust. This has never previously been possible between musicians, management and boards, but the new model would not be based on confrontation and dysfunction. It would be about a shared vision, ownership, and musician empowerment. Orchestras could then focus upon community interaction with an educational bias. Musicians would have multiple functions and responsibilities, many of which would be self-managed and created in the community.

It's a great article, and deserves to be considered.