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| Dr. Romanstein, appropriately posed before an empty stage |
Stanley Romanstein, President of the Atlanta Symphony, has been vilified from every corner of the country and beyond. He has presided over unprecedented two lockouts of his musicians, shutting down what has become one of America's better ensembles and surely the pride of the southeast region. But questions must be asked, "Who is this guy and how did he get into this position?
Romanstein signs everything "Ph.D", reminding everyone of his academic pedigree. While a doctorate is a noble achievement (I hold a D.M.A. myself), does it really reflect expertise in the field of arts management? In this case, no. Romanstein's Ph.D, albeit from the prestigious Cincinnati Conservatory, is in Renaissance musicology. Nowhere on his ASO biography, which appears to date from 2012, the year of the ASO's first lockout, does it note any significant training in the tools necessary to run the largest musical organization in the southeast U.S.
A 2010 interview with Pierre Ruhe of the Atlanta Journal Constitution, paints a completely different view of Romanstein than the man he has apparently turned into.
On Fridays with his wife and three children, he gives as an example, the family bakes two loaves of bread, one to eat, the other to give away.
“It’s about being mindful. There’s a concept in Judaism called tikkun olam, or repairing the world,” Romanstein said recently during a freewheeling conversation in a Midtown coffee shop. “We have an obligation to try and fix the broken pieces. That’s what social justice is about. That’s what strong leadership is about. I have a fundamental interest in bringing people together, not building walls.”
This is not the Stanley Romanstein who shut down negotiations with ASO musicians in the final days preceding the expiration of the current CBA, which was adopted nearly at gunpoint two years ago.
Speaking of the accumulated debt that he inherited upon accepting the position, Romanstein noted,
“The traditional model for American orchestras has been broken for 20 years,” says arts center president Joe Bankoff, who chaired the search committee that hired Romanstein. “Stanley understands that his top job is to bring financial stability....It will take three years to get “our house in order, in finances, ticket sales, balance sheet. Nobody gets excited about addressing the deficit,” he says.
Romanstein has had four years to get the "house in order." including two years in which salaries were seriously curtailed. Yet, the deficits continue and Romanstein and the ASO Board insists on balancing budgets on the backs of the musicians, instead of hitting the streets and drumming up financial support. The Chicago Symphony recently announced another $2 million gift to go with the $32 million given earlier in the year. Atlanta is not a poor community; somebody is just not doing their job.
My take is that here is a leader who is just plain out of his element. Previously he served as CEO of the Minnesota Humanities Center, an organization with a budget of a mere $4.2 million--peanuts compared to the budget of a major arts organization. The interview duly notes that he has never led a performing arts organization. So more questions must remain. How did this guy--lacking any experience in large non-profits and performing arts organizations--get the job? It reminds me of a performing organization I once worked for. Upon hiring a new operations manager, the executive director (herself an accountant), described the individual's qualifications in this way, "Well, she did have an orchestration class." (I wish I was kidding.)
Romanstein's closing statement in that 2010 interview is now tinted with more than a bit of irony, I get a sense of pent-up energy to go forward. As an organization, the ASO has had so much momentum, everybody is ready to keep going.”
If only.....
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