If you can't "do....." A (partial) tale of the mess in FW

Seriously, how did the Fort Worth Symphony get to this point? Players are up in arms about another pay cut. Management is insistent that it needs to happen in order to keep the organization solvent (no talk of a lock out, but the player's union has authorized a strike--if it comes to that.)

Detroit in 2010, could be anywhere today...

2010 wasn't really a great year for symphony orchestras in the U.S. The Cleveland Orchestra stuck early that year when negotiations broke down. In the fall, the Detroit Symphony was just starting what would become a near-crippling walk out. And the autumn began in silence as the musicians of the Fort Worth Symphony imposed, according to Front Row D magazine, a warning to orchestra management that the musicians were united in their opposition to cuts proposed during their contract renewal talks.

In November, musicians gave in to a very large pay cut of nearly 14%. At that time, FWSOA President Ann Koonsman (who would serve less than one year more) said, With this new agreement, the musicians are accepting a decrease in pay. None of us are pleased about that, and I ask the community to step forward and to increase their support of the Orchestra. The players were led to believe that management would step up its development efforts in order to restore what they had given away. Unfortunately....

Ann Koonsman, gotta love the pose....

In 2010, the head of development (that's the person directly in charge of raising donor dollars) was Amy Adkins. She was rewarded for her bang up job with a promotion--to the President's position! Yes, you read that correctly: the person who didn't raise enough money to balance the budget would become the head of the whole organization. In fact, she was the only person considered for the job, having been basically crowned by the outgoing CEO, Ms. Koonsman. Let's not even get into someone hiring their replacement...

One has to wonder a bit about Ms. Adkins, of whom it was said (again in Front Row, January 28, 2011), The Board of Directors is thrilled to announce Amy’s appointment as president and CEO. Her longtime dedication to the Orchestra, her love of music, and her ability to form relationships with key supporters makes her the perfect fit. Amy’s knowledge of orchestral management combined with her superb fundraising talents will ensure that the Orchestra has a bright future.

Knowledge of orchestral management? Where did that come from? Here's the backstory, as chronicled by Ms. Adkins herself (in a Front Row story from August):

She started college as a piano performance major at Texas Tech University, where she met her future husband, Alton Adkins. But while on a trip to visit a friend in New York City when she was 20 years old, Adkins took a little personal tour of the famed Juilliard School of Music that changed the course of her career.

"I remember hearing the level of playing coming out of those Juilliard rooms," she recalls. "I realized that I just wasn't at that level and that a performance career was not going to be for me." So let's get this right: is this an example of "if you can't do..."

And just like that, Adkins shifted her major from performance to music education. With her freshly minted education and music certification degree in hand, she began to teach music and choir in the Duncanville school district. After two years of teaching, Adkins was emotionally and physically spent. But she couldn't handle teaching after two whole years? (Sorry, I've been in the profession for 30. Every day is a joy.)

Enter Fort Worth and the Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra, which, in the summer of 1993, engaged Adkins' husband as a French horn player. Alton Adkins has been with the orchestra ever since.

By 1995, Adkins had joined the orchestra as its education coordinator. Eventually, Adkins would take on the more influential position of development director, where she thrived. Thrived so well that the players took a huge pay cut right before she assumed control.

DFW International, one of the world's busiest

Granted, in 2010 the nation was coming out of the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression.  That said, the orchestra had a successful endowment campaign completed in 2008. Then there's Rick Perry's "Texas Miracle." Godsend or not, Texas was not hit as hard by the recession as the rest of the country. The price of a barrel of crude reached its lowest point in 2009, when it was $53.48. A year later, that same price had risen to over $71. The entire state was in a growth pattern which has yet to abate.

Since 2000, Fort Worth has been the fastest growing city in the U.S. The nation's 16th largest city, it is part of the number one tourist destination in Texas. Some 6.5 million people annually visit the Dallas-Fort Worth area. WalletHub has called it the number 1 city for finding a job. Visit the FW Chamber of Commerce website; Fort Worth, by all measures, is a happening place....

Fort Worth skyline: not just a cow town anymore...

By all measures except what it pays its orchestra. It's obvious that the blame must rest with management. They were given a huge concession in 2010. Five years later (this mess has been going on since last summer) management has demanded (there has never been any "asking") for more.

The buck stops at the top.