Hartford: It's over but it's not pretty.

Not much of a party...

As I previously predicted, the labor relations stalemate has ended with the musicians caving in to the demands of management. Very little has changed in the eventual settlement and the players have made almost unconscionable concessions to keep the music playing.

The "boots on the ground" have come out in great number to report on the resolution.

Mara Lee

Mara Lee, who has made considerable and insightful contributions to this issue in the Hartford Courant, writes that Its money problems are not over, but the vote by Hartford Symphony Orchestra's board Tuesday – after musicians' vote Monday to accept significant wage cuts — means that a major institution will continue to be part of the region's cultural landscape. Some of the principals in the drawn out negotiations (which should have begun before the previous contract expired, not a year after) commented in Ms. Lee's article:

• Steve Wade, an oboist, said that some musicians cried as they spoke during four hours of discussion Sunday night, while others expressed anger, before voting on management's offer. He declined to say what the vote tally was, but said it was not unanimous. The vote reflects that we want to be on stage for a long time," Wade said.

• Stephen "Steve" Collins, Director of Artistic Operations and Administration: said the wage concessions will reduce what had been a projected $900,000 deficit in 2016 to about $500,000. He said management also has a plan to cut $350,000 in overhead and to raise an additional $350,000 annually. The orchestra raised $2.5 million last year. "This is definitely a challenge. We cannot do this alone. We need the community's support," Collins said. "This agreement we've come to conclusion with the AFM, it's not a silver bullet, it's one piece of the puzzle."

Steve Collins, a musician who
sold his soul to the Bushnell

The puzzling thing to me is Steve Collins himself. He come from a performance background, having played in the percussion section for a number of small time New England orchestras. As one of our readers recently commented, Steve Collins was hired largely for this purpose: to sit across the table and extract punitive cuts from people he should view as colleagues, brothers and sisters.Something in his career must have driven a wedge between himself and musicians.

Katie Pellico, Assignment Editor for WTNH, quotes from the musician's press release, Unfortunately, up to this point in time our management team has been unwilling to make a similar gesture, a fact that makes it much harder for us to accept the salary cuts that are demanded of us. If we do agree to these concessions, we need to see that the values of the management we work for are aligned with ours.

Really? I find that very difficult to believe....

An anonymous piece in the Courant is just plain idiocy; offering "Five Reasons to Be Happy the Hartford Symphony will play on, the article (editorial?) notes:

1. It's a win. A major Connecticut institution isn't shutting down.

2. We're No. 2. Obviously, we aren't Boston, but Hartford has the second-largest symphony in New England. [And that's something to brag about? "We're number two! We're number two!]

3. It's a lesson. The musicians are making painful concessions to preserve something good. State legislators ought to pay attention. [The author(s) obviously have another agenda here.] 

4. It's like the NFL playoffs."The Battle of the Batons" starts Thursday night. For four performances, the three finalists for assistant conductor will square off. [No, it's not like the NHL playoffs at all. This is insulting to the music and the musicians. Of course, the parent organization decided to call it a "Battle of the Batons," possibly in hopes of attracting all of those Bruins' fans.

5. It's a chance to something different. They're staying, so why not go? All student tickets start at $10. If you're under 40, Thursday evening Masterworks tickets start at $28. Rush tickets for senior citizens -- available an hour before the show -- are half price. [It's great music, offered by dedicated musicians. That why you go.]

Several things are still in flux, reports Hartford Business.com: The symphony has also committed to reducing expenses and increasing fundraising by $700,000, Collins said. He said that could be achieved in part by renegotiating vendor agreements and looking at employee efficiencies. He said those efficiencies do not include planned layoffs at this point. The remainder of the 2015-2016 symphony season will proceed as planned, Collins said. "There may be some modifications to specific programs", he added.

As a closing thought on this sad chapter in the lives of the orchestral musicians of Hartford, I must point readers to Drew McManus's recent post. He succinctly summarizes the aftermath: Although the concessionary settlement may be in place, the HSO’s greatest threat to long term sustainability remains unchecked; in particular, the relationship between the HSO and Bushnell Performing Arts Center (BPAC) and its influence on maximizing revenue.

Bushnell: the one-sided dalliance has to go

About David Fay, the Bushnell, and its role in this dispute, McManus states,

No One Can Serve Two Masters

As mutually exclusive 501(c)3 organizations, the HSO and BPAC compete for the same board and donor resources. In turn, the unearned income from those resources contributes to the majority of the orchestra’s revenue. In short, these are among the biggest chips in the revenue game.

The lynchpin in that board sourced revenue process is an institution’s CEO.

Although a nonprofit board is entrusted with the legal authority to hire, oversee, and hold a CEO accountable for results, the reality of that relationship plays out with less clarity.

Inside many nonprofit performing arts organizations, board members often lack enough direct nonprofit management expertise to carry out those duties effectively. As a result, the CEO tends to fill a dual role as someone who reports to the board, but also educates them on how the business operates.

Moreover, the CEO is also a key figure in recruiting the best available board talent and inspiring those individuals to maximize unearned income potential.

In the HSO’s case, installing a CEO that serves in the same position at what would otherwise be a competing institution invites a nothing short of a conflict of interest.

* * * * * * * * * *

The musicians are obviously the losers in the Battle of Hartford. The winner(s)? Look to the top.

Why, it's David Fay!

Bushnell: Show me the money!

As the Hartford Symphony approaches the (literal) zero hour, I've stepped back a bit from reading about last ditch efforts to save the HSO. Yesterday, I offered part of a letter from an HSO musician, trumpeter Jay Lichtmann, who wrote Mr. Fay has promised to use the Bushnell's development office to help raise funds for the symphony, but little has been done on this front. The orchestra's debts continue to mount while sizable new financial commitments have been made.

From Dictionary.com: Alliance; noun

1. the act of allying or state of being allied.
2. a formal agreement or treaty between two or more nations to cooperate for specific purposes.
3. a merging of efforts or interests by persons, families, states, or organizations: an alliance between church and state.
4. the persons or entities so allied.
5. marriage or the relationship created by marriage between the families of the spouses.
6. correspondence in basic characteristics; affinity: the alliance between logic and metaphysics.

This?

This "alliance" has always seemed to me to be one that could only benefit the Bushnell Center, while it actually should be the other way around. If the arts center and its CEO, David Fay, really cared about the future of orchestral music in Connecticut's state capital, the development office would have leapt into action. So far, there has been little, if any effort in this regard.

So it's not an alliance. Merriam Webster offers these "near antonyms": breakup, dissolution, disunion; division, parting, separation, severance, split; alienation, divorce, estrangement. But none of those work as they imply that there was a real "alliance" in place. 

Or this?

As the labor situation has continued to escalate and the threat of a shutdown is imminent (midnight tonight), I have begun to receive reports from sources close to the symphony. One writer, who wishes to remain anonymous, wonders why nothing has been written about the organization's endowment. Well here's an answer from the HSO's 2014 IRS 990 form which indicates "investment income" of $1.35 million. What that tells me is that there is a pile of money laying around somewhere collecting all that interest. 

N.B. If one digs just a little deeper into the 990 information (check out part X) one discovers total assets of $9.8 million, which includes over $9 million in investment securities.

Eschewing altruism, one has to wonder exactly what's in this alliance for Bushnell? My source asks, What was in it for that organization? What profits, pluses, benefits. If you analyze this situation it is obvious that the answer to above questions is: none. When the merger happened, Bushnell was presented as a savior. Here we had a ailing company (HSO) joining with a strong company in promoting and distributing the arts. It seemed that HSO was the ONLY side to reap all the benefits. My question exactly.

Among the selling points to the HSO in the "alliance" (increasingly it seems nothing of the kind) include development monies of which only about 25% of the promised total has materialized. The other strong selling point were the savings the Symphony would receive on hall rental, according to my source. The HSO paid up to $60,000 a week for Bushnell rental for its concerts. Another one? The HSO was to pay only small administration fees to the Bushnell, therefore it let go of several of its employees thus saving some money. 

The reality of the situation is staggering. The Symphony is STILL paying the $60,000 per week fee! The administrative costs paid to Bushnell are around $300,000 per year. The HSO is bleeding money which goes directly to Bushnell.... Interestingly enough, The three board members who pushed for merger the most resigned or "retired" from the board a the end of last season.

There seems to be a lot of money to be made,
but where is it going?

There's more to this but will require some real "boots on the ground" investigation.

Now, here is what I've gathered about Steve Collins, the Executive Director pro tem. (Let's call the position what it truly is....):

In the summer of 2015 the musicians and management were already in contract dispute, the new contracts were not issued, the donations were not coming in, the situation was dire. Yet, Steve Collins uproots his whole family, his freelance musician wife [If you don't know what freelancers make, talk to me] and two young children and moves them to Glastonbury where he buys a $450K house. It seems like unwise move, right? Some of you mentioned in the blog that Steve Collins is really "the man in charge".  I hope not, I hope he was just as misinformed and played with as musicians. The alternative is just too terrible to comprehend. Many of us know him from the times long ago when he was a musician and spoke a slightly different language. It will be interesting to know see what happens to Collins' career after the HSO is no more. If he stays with the Bushnell...well we will have our answer. It seems to me however that Mr. Collins is a puppet in Mr. Fay's hands.

Maybe I'm getting jaded in my old age. I have been around the block more than once, with educational institutions and a number of non-profits. As a shameless plug, if you want to help a musical organization get out of a hole, talk to me about that too.

If this is true, then the ED pro tem got a pretty sizable raise from his position in Waterbury. Of course, I don't know what $450K buys in Connecticut. Here in Dubuque, the city fathers and mothers spent that much on a public restroom (I wish I was kidding).

Dubuque's infamous $450K bathroom
No, the toilets are not gold plated...

One last point that I've been thinking about and my source also questioned involves educational programs, i.e. getting symphony musicians into the schools. I understand that there has been a lot of this in the past but not a single performance yet this year. If things in Connecticut work like things in Iowa, such programs are usually supported through grants from arts councils, corporations, foundations, etc. If this is the case, Bushnell is in violation of the terms of these grants. It's like restricted endowment funds; you can only use it for its intended (or "granted") purpose. Renege on that agreement and the money has to return to its original source.

This is one convoluted mess. On the one hand the HSO is getting ready to fold. On the other hand, Bushnell continues to reap profits on the back of the HSO and, in kind, its musicians. The real winner in this "alliance" (I really need a better word) is obvious and its not the orchestra, the musicians, nor the community.

In all of this, Mara Lee, writing for the Hartford Courant, tells us that Conductor Carolyn Kuan did not return a call requesting a comment. When Atlanta faced a long and ugly lockout, conductors Robert Spano and Donald Runnicles were adamant about the situation. Osmo Vanska almost single-handedly brought the Minnesota Orchestra Association to its senses and hastened the departure of then-ED Michael Hensen. And Carolyn Kuan (who just received a raise and a six-year contract extension) is mum.

Tomorrow is the Ides of January: sadly fitting....

Who's who in Hartford

When the "alliance" between the Bushnell Center for the Arts and the Hartford Symphony was originally announced in March 2014, Both groups were at pains to insist that (1) this was not a “merger” (both boards, for instance, would remain intact), and (2) that this new deal, which had been discussed on and off for years, was not being entered into, because the orchestra was “ailing.” (Steve Metcalf, WNPR, September 2014). It was further stated that David Fay, head of the Bushnell, would be both President and CEO of the orchestra (HSO) and interim CEO Carrie Hammond was relieved of her duties.

The Bushnell Center
Come Friday, will they need to drape it in black?

Metcalf also posed a number of questions, some of which have been--unfortunately it seems--already answered:

• Will the partnership result in new approaches to programming and repertoire?

• Is it realistic these days to hope for an increase in HSO activity, including performances outside the Bushnell itself?

• Will the hoped-for new administrative stability mean the HSO will be able to attract significant new donors?

Steve Metcalf

It must be pointed out that the orchestra was, in fact, "ailing" (floundering might be a better term). Donations were down, musicians had made large concessions in their 2010 CBA, and (apparently--although it can't be discovered in the symphony's IRS 990s) there were--and continue to be serious cash flow problems.

By the way, the answer to all of the above questions seems to be a resounding "No!"

But there's more. In attempting to answer all of these questions and sort out the stalemate between orchestra and Bushnell, one has to figure out who is really in charge. David Fay is listed as President and CEO of the HSO but appears to be a figurehead at best. The real "talking head" for the organization is Steve Collins, who was appointed Director of Artistic Operations and Administration (sounds like an Executive Director to me) for the HSO in August 2014. This appointment itself seems incongruous with the announced agreement between Bushnell and the HSO which noted, (in a press release directly from the HSO, March 2014) In addition to the back-office services, The Bushnell will provide principal management during the initial term of the arrangement, including fundraising, governance support and the services of David Fay, who will serve as an interim CEO for the HSO in addition to continuing his ongoing duties as CEO of The Bushnell.

Jay Lichtmann, a long-time (since 1982) trumpeter with the HSO, voiced concern over the "alliance" in an August letter to the Hartford Courant: Mr. Fay has promised to use the Bushnell's development office to help raise funds for the symphony, but little has been done on this front. The orchestra's debts continue to mount while sizable new financial commitments have been made. Music Director Carolyn Kuan has recently signed a six-year contract with a raise; the HSO is hiring an assistant conductor; and salaries and benefits of HSO administrative staff have been increased.

So the HSO shed itself of a real CEO and created a new position for Steve Collins, as well as raises for the conductor and HSO administrative staff (I thought Bushnell was the "administrative staff").

Steve Collins
Is HE in charge?

But really, who is Steve Collins? In this time of ready made information, one has to only turn to a LinkedIn profile.

A percussionist, Collins earned a Bachelor of Music Degree in Performance from the Hartt School, University of Hartford, in 1989. It's not readily apparent that he has ever held a professional position in that field. His employment history contains the following:

• 1994-2003: Project Manager, Collins Construction Company, New York/New Jersey. I cannot locate any current information for this company.

• 2003-2008: Consultant, various (no specifics listed): Worked with various orchestras to positively impact performance, innovate new programming, and streamline operations.

• 2003-2009: Education Director, New Haven (CT) Symphony. In most orchestras of this size, these kinds of positions are usually only part time, hence the overlap with "consulting".

• 2009-present (sic): Executive Director, Waterbury (CT) Symphony.

• August 2014 to present: Director of Artistic Operations & Administration, HSO.

Now, I'm all in on "experiential learning" in career advancement (in many ways, I am a product of the same), but it seems a huge leap from Education Director to basically the leader of a much larger organization. And, in terms of the management agreement originally announced in the press, Bushnell hasn't followed through in its end of the bargain. According to nearly everything that has appeared in the press, Collins seems to be the guy in charge.

There's so much more to report as all of the information is staggering. CEO Fay actually came to the Bushnell from the for-profit sector with actual degrees in communications (BA) Wheaton College, and theater arts (Northwestern). It appears that he still remains active outside the activities of the Arts Center, as there are numerous companies capitalizing on the Bushnell brand. But that has to be for another day.

The Board of Directors seems eerily quiet as does conductor Carolyn Kuan. She has said nothing about the crisis. After signing a new six-year contract extension she has lots of skin in the game. The only person (besides the musicians, and no one is talking to them) talking is Steve Collins and he's saying that $750,000 in wage cuts over four years (proposed by the musicians), didn't "begin to address the depth of the financial crisis." It's been made very clear that the "final" deadline is only two days away. That is when, according to Collins, the HSO (or is it Bushnell--my head is spinning) will determine "exactly how we proceed in shutting down the organization."

Michael Pollard

For now, I will let an HSO musician have the last word. From Michael Pollard, a violinist (since 1975) and negotiating committee member for the American Federation of Musicians, "It's a tragedy, really, it's a shame it had to come to this."

UPDATE: This just in from WNPR, via WBUR-Boston:

Steve Collins: Unfortunately, we see no alternative but to close the HSO if we can't reach a satisfactory agreement with the AFM that provides a stable financial platform. We have identified and committed to extensive reductions in overhead expenses and increased goals in fundraising that exceed the concessions we seek from the AFM. We are hopeful we can reach an agreement Thursday night and continue to maintain a commitment to good faith bargaining.

It is possible to go from band to worse: A Hartford Update

In the midst of the storm raging between the Hartford Symphony management (which is the Bushnell Center for the Arts) and its musicians, Steve Metcalf, of WNPR, wrote in response to the management threat to shut down, It’s hard to know what to say. One’s first impulse is to grab the key figures on both sides by the collar and throw them into a locked room and say: “Dammit, solve this!”

Yep. We saw the sign....

The major issue remains "guaranteed performances" for the orchestra's core musicians. Bushnell want to cut those by 30%. The effect on the musicians would be financially devastating. "Sadly enough, I take the shutdown threat as being real," Metcalf continues.

That was December 18. There is much more to Metcalf's column, but the news continues to worsen.

Mara Lee

Move forward to January 6 and Mara Lee's article in the Hartford Courant. She notes that, On Wednesday, he (Stephen Collins, the symphony's director of artistic operations and administration) said management has told the union that if there isn't an agreement in place by Jan. 15, the only decision left at that point is to determine "exactly how we proceed in shutting down the organization." Bushnell has not been forthcoming about the contents of any contractual proposal and, in fact, has refused comment to the Courant as well as outside arts consultants (including Drew McManus).

On January 7, musicians unanimously rejected the latest "offer" from Bushnell, which apparently has remained unchanged since negotiations began last spring. And yes, it has gone from bad to worse yet again. McManus reports that the proposed collective bargaining agreement (CBA) now contains a cancellation clause which, in a press statement issued by the musicians, “In essence, the contract would be a one sided affair binding the musicians but giving HSO management and Board the ability to walk away from their obligations.” Furthermore, Bushnell is now engaging in "regressive bargaining", something that has occurred all too frequently as arts organizations attempt to cripple their employees, “Now, in addition to asking the core musicians to take a 40% cut, management wants to cut income producing services and reduce work opportunities for all of the musicians.”

Bushnell's self-imposed deadline is January 15. The Ides of March could be coming early this year. What happens after that is anyone's guess. There appears to be no best case scenario for the musicians or the community.

ADDENDUM: Irony of ironies:

The Summer 2015 HSO newsletter, Quarter Notes, announced

• A new six-year extension of Conductor Carolyn Kuan's contract with the symphony. Of course, this was after the expiration of the musicians' CBA.

• Among things that are NEW at the HSO: Did you notice the new name of our newsletter?* Since we publish quarterly, the name “Quarter Notes” seemed more appropriate and a bit more “quirky.” We’ve even altered the graphics to depict a quarter note in place of the eighth note that used to be there and the HSO logo (a great logo) is now back. Now isn't that thrilling.

• Some kind of gala event entitled Bravo! (held in May) netted over $130K to support the HSO and its programs throughout the community. Wonder where that cash has gone...

Carolyn Kuan

I have also neglected to note that the HSO has created an Assistant Conductor position, a newly established post to (from the HSO website) assist Music Director Carolyn Kuan to extend the HSO’s community and educational outreach.  The latest IRS Form 990 (for the fiscal year ending in August 2014) indicates that Kuan received $154,369 in salary and another $24,240 in "other compensation." During this same period, the orchestra was over $450,000 in the black!

ONE MORE THING: In the "for what it's worth," David Fay, President and CEO of the Symphony (serving concurrently in the same positions with Bushnell) earned $374,521 plus $26,000 in the mysterious "other" category. This information found on Bushnell's 2014 990, found here. Several other Bushnell employees make in excess of $100,000 and Executive VP Ronna Reynolds clocks in at $217,829 plus an-"other" 37,554. Who says there's no money in non-profits?

Bushnell's David Fay
We'll be seeing more of him....

Et tu, Hartford?

Hartford's Bushnell Center for the Arts

In what have initial seemed an innocuous event, in March 2014, a "major partnership" between the Hartford (CT) Symphony and the Bushnell Center for the Performing Arts was reported on WNPR, Connecticut's Public Radio. The report noted that this arrangement "ushers in a new era for the HSO." In a nutshell, Bushnell would assume administrative leadership for both organizations. This resulted in the resignation of HSO President and CEO as well as (at that time) a number of additional job losses on the orchestra side.

Apparently, the HSO had been in serious financial constraints for a number of years. The report goes on to state, Greig Shearer, principal flute for the HSO, said this move could save the HSO, which has struggled financially in recent years. "It's frustrating," he said. "Ever since I've been in the orchestra, it's been touch and go financially. Going it alone didn't look like it would be stable for us in the future. I think it is a good move."

But might there be more than meets the eye (and the pocketbook)? A similar arrangement took place in Atlanta when the Symphony merged its services with the Woodruff. While the ASO did maintain its own CEO, it didn't take long for funding delays and cuts from the "parent" organization to affect the "child." And eventually, the disastrous and protracted lockout happened.

Well, in a case of "deja vu all over again," the same WNPR (July 30, 2015) reported picket lines forming outside the Bushnell as the HSO was proposing a 40% reduction in salary (yep, that's 40%). But HSO President and CEO David Fay believes the musicians' bargaining unit is distorting the details of the contract. In a written statement, Fay said: "We are preparing to respond factually to the accusations being made by the American Federation of Musicians in regard to the ongoing negotiations."

Why couldn't he have responded right then and there?

Mortensen Hall at the Bushnell
Capacity: 2800

Forward to September 9 when the NLRB filed a complaint against the HSO organization in violation of its contractual agreement that musicians would receive their next season's schedule in May. The Hartford Courant noted that the HSO was planning on reducing services (rehearsals and performances), thus necessitating the draconian reduction in salaries. The article goes on to state, That reduced schedule has not been written into individual contracts with musicians, because the two sides are still grappling with how much work will be guaranteed. Because those schedules had historically been set by May 1, and the union did not agree to a delay, the NLRB on Aug. 28 accused the symphony of "failing and refusing to bargain collectively and in good faith."

A little more than a week later (September 17) an op-ed article in the Courant urged that
Symphony Contract Deal Requires Realism. Author Ronald Compton, who had negotiated a musician agreement in the 1990s but had no skin in the current game, wrote, "Successfully solving a problem requires that the real problem be identified. If that requirement is not met, no viable solution can result. So, what is the problem?"

"This is going to take serious money to solve", says Compton, and courting potential donors can be a time-consuming and tedious process. He went on to note that, "Significant donors look for two things: quality and stability. The symphony certainly has the former, but especially given the many harmful public statements about the present situation, many of us believe that funding is most likely to decrease just when it needs to increase the most. The words "strike" and "lockout" are anathema to donors. Beyond that, some pretty knowledgeable people fear that in the event of either of those disastrous events, the symphony, at least as we know it, might not survive."

Fast forward to December and the AP reports a pending lockout, all because of years of poor fiscal management. The orchestra, which is in its 72nd season, is undercapitalized and struggling with annual deficits of more than $1.3 million, officials say. A $2 million line of credit also is fully drawn. The symphony says it has cut operating expenses by 26 percent over the past seven years, to $4.8 million from $6.5 million. But money problems remain. “If we don’t solve our financial crisis with a long-term solution by the end of January, we’ll have to make difficult decisions, all of which are unpalatable, including shutting down immediately,” said Stephen Collins, director of artistic operations and administration at the symphony.

It's too much like Atlanta, Minnesota, or (regarding their shutdown at the close of the 100th anniversary season) Green Bay.

(For the record, there's money--lots of it--in Hartford, which bears the nickname "Insurance Capital of the World." Long a very wealthy city, its metropolitan area ranks 7th out of 280 metropolitan statistical areas in per capita income. There is a great deal of income disparity, whereas 83% of Hartford's jobs are filled by commuters from neighboring towns who earn over $80,000, while 75% of Hartford residents who commute to work in other towns earn just $40,000. After many years of population losses, those numbers have rebounded since the 2000 census.