An open letter to the CEI

 Exactly who is to blame?
     An attack on orchestral musicians...

In yesterday's post, I commented with extreme prejudice on an op-ed piece appearing in the New York Daily News which called musicians' unions to task for creating a hostile environment that has caused financial woes in some of our vaunted cultural organizations, including the New York City Opera, Detroit Symphony, and the Philadelphia Orchestra.  Below is an email that I sent to both F. Vincent Vernuccio and Adam Michel, both affiliated with the ultra-conservative Competitive Enterprise Institute, calling them to task for both their shoddy reporting and the obvious political agenda put forward.

Dear Mr. Vernuccio:

I read with more than a bit of disdain your recent NY Daily News Op-Ed "Labor Unions Stop the Music," in which you and your colleague, Mr. Michel place the blame for the financial plight of some of our leading cultural institutions firmly on the shoulders on the musicians.  As a conductor (for over 30 years) as well as an educator, I feel compelled to take you and Mr. Michel to task for failure to tell the whole story of the fiscal woes of the Detroit Symphony and the Philadelphia Orchestra.

As more than a casual observer--I grew up in Michigan and first heard the Philadelphia band in a performance there in 1976--I have been following both of these unfortunate situations with keen interest.  Both have been venerable musical institutions:  all in the music community aware of the history of the "Philadelphia Sound" and the Detroit Symphony was once called the "Greatest French orchestra in the world," when it was led by the likes of Paul Paray.  Unfortunately, both institutions have fallen on hard economic times, but the blame most certainly is the result of mismanagement, not restrictive union contracts, as your article insinuates.

Detroit's problems began with the orchestra's decision to return to its original home at Orchestra Hall, which--in itself was a wise move out of the acoustical and architectural horror known as Ford Auditorium.  But the troubles began when management decided to expand the original Woodward Avenue facility into what is now known as the Max M. Fisher Music Center, dubbed "The Max."  The capital campaign to raise funds for the new facility was highly successful, raising some $60 million.  But instead of acting fiscally responsible and paying its bills, orchestra management decided to place the funds in an endowment fund, in hopes of generating even greater funds for its operating budget on top of its construction debt load.  The rest is history:  the public did not respond to the marketing ploy of "Make Music at the Max," ticket sales for the new facility actually decreased (something unheard of nearly everywhere a new facility has been built) and the local economic crisis eventually took its own toll.  Faced with a $3 million drain on its budget simply to pay its debt load the orchestra management tapped into precious endowment funds with great alacrity, eventually leading to a near financial collapse of the entire organization.

In negotiations with the musicians union, which had previous given in to salary adjustments and wage freezes, the orchestra management approached the players with a new agreement which would decrease the base musicians' salaries by 27%.  In what I see as an extreme example of good faith, the players' association responded with a counter offer of a 24% reduction.  To that proposal, orchestra management countered with a 33% counter proposal of its own!  Seeing that the management, which had led the orchestra into a deep financial abyss, had no intent of reasonable negotiations, the players had no choice but to strike.  The six month work stoppage has led to acrimony on all sides, with conductor Leonard Slatkin basically refusing to comment one way or the other; statements from management have maligned the players themselves; and, of late, increasing numbers of long-standing members--including the orchestra's concertmaster--have jumped the ship in droves.  The DSO is a shadow of its former self and it is going to take visionary leadership on all sides to return it to musical respectability.

The situation in Philadelphia remains another matter of management's irresponsibility.  In 2009, the orchestra's expenses exceeded revenues by some $10 million and, at the same time, endowment principal decreased to the tune of $50 million.  Much of this drain has been attributed to the orchestra's own move from the Academy of Music (which it owns) to the new Verizon Hall (which it does not).  Lackluster choices in music directorship have stripped the orchestra of its unique sound and audiences, in a region that includes arguably the nation's finest orchestra--the New York Philharmonic--as well as an up and coming New Jersey Philharmonic, are taking their musical dollars elsewhere, if at all.  Still, the "bankrupt" Philadelphia Orchestra maintains over $120 million in assets, something which will probably not sit particularly well with bankruptcy court.  It is sad to note that probably the only "winner" in this affair will be the bankruptcy attorneys, now billing the orchestra at $750/hour. 

Your choice to tell half-truths--at best--and neglect the entire story reeks of spurious journalism and suggests a political agenda that has no concern for the organizations or the art forms mentioned.  Rather, like many, you have chosen to blame the unions for all of our woes.  As a teacher, I would have called you and Mr. Michel to task for your refusal to present all sides of the story of these organizations' financial worries, rather than stating that "hostile" musicians could possibly be at all interested in "stopping the music."

Sincerely yours,

Brian Hughes
Conductor, Teacher, Author
www.brianlhughes.com

I sincerely doubt that I will receive a reply, but if one should arrive, I'll be sure to post it.