A lot of GOOD THINGS are happening in the arts world.

Scott Chamberlain in his blog, The Mask of the Flower Prince, pointed out a list supplied by ISCOM Chair Bruce Ridge enumerating the good news from member orchestras.

• The Atlanta Symphony announced that it ended the season with a surplus, and raised $13 million 
• The Arizona Opera exceeded its fundraising goals
• The Buffalo Philharmonic saw record season ticket sales and subscription revenues for the third consecutive year
• The Charlotte Symphony received a $2 million gift
• The Cincinnati Symphony raised over $26 million and signed a new contract that adds 15 new musicians over the next five years

Packing the seats in Cincinnati

• The Dallas Symphony achieved a balanced budget and received a $5 million gift
• The Detroit Symphony raised $1.4 million in one evening
• The Houston Grand Opera exceeded its fundraising goal, raising almost $173 million
• The Houston Symphony received a $5 million donation, the largest gift in nearly a decade
• The Indianapolis Symphony saw ticket sales increase 15%, and subscriptions rose 24%.
• The Memphis Symphony received a $1 million gift for education programs
• The Minnesota Orchestra received $6 million in special gifts and embarked on a historic tour to Cuba

• The Nashville Symphony set fundraising and ticket sales records
• The Omaha Symphony saw record attendance
• The Oregon Symphony set records for ticket sales and contributions, and its gala raised a record $700,000
• The Pacific Symphony’s gala raised a record $1.6 million
• The Richmond Symphony received a $1 million gift for outdoor concerts
• The Rochester Philharmonic reported a 19% increase in single ticket sales
• The St. Louis Symphony received a $10 million gift
• The St. Paul Chamber Orchestra saw its highest attendance in 20 years

In addition, I've previously reported substantive raises given by the Kansas City Symphony on a five-year contract settled a year early!

The Detroit Symphony is revamping its recital hall, thanks to a $3.5 million gift. Detroit? Yes, that Detroit.

"The Cube" Detroit Symphony Orchestra Hall

The Dallas Symphony, right next door to striking Fort Worth, has balanced its budget and is reaping a bounty of dollars in both its annual fund and long-term commitments.

Scott knows what he's talking about as he is a longtime resident of the Twin Cities, which went through its own well-publicized nightmare. There, an entrenched Board of Directors, aided and abetted by local media, allowed an inept CEO to hold the organization hostage. That the Minnesota Orchestra has so quickly rebounded, artistically and financially, is a testament to the spirit of its people and especially the vision of Osmo Vanska.

The story sounds all too familiar because that's what's happening in Fort Worth and Pittsburgh. The respective Boards just continue to cancel programs and refuse to negotiate at all. It's all in the "last, best, and final offer" mentality. There are certainly more and better solutions, but all sides have to at least sit and talk. No one really wants the music to stop for, if it's gone long enough, some might forget it was ever there.

One person making a difference

In comparing the contractual problems of the Ft. Worth Symphony and those past in Atlanta and Minneapolis (the Minnesota Orchestra), there are striking similarities: entrenched management and board-controlled media come to mind. Of course, both Atlanta and Minnesota ended in ugly and extended lockouts. However, in both cases there was a major difference.

Donald Runnicles and Robert Spano
(photo Jeff Roffman)

In Atlanta, Music Director Robert Spano AND Principal Guest Conductor Donald Runnicles both spoke out on the side of the players. Their joint letter to the ASO management said, in part, “We ask the board and management to acknowledge the sacrifice the musicians have already made, and to examine other ways and areas to establish sustainability.” Spano went one step further in an interview with the Washington Post, "This is not a normal labor dispute. “This is a question of whether Atlanta wishes to preserve its legacy of having a great orchestra or having a minor league orchestra. It’s not a question of payroll or health care or anything else. It’s a question of: Will Atlanta remain an important, major league orchestra?"

Osmo Vanska

Finnish conductor Osmo Vanska, Music Director of the Minnesota Orchestra, went one step further: he resigned after that orchestra's lockout had lasted a year (it would eventually eat up 16 months). During that time, he came back to lead "The Musicians of the Minnesota Orchestra" in three sold-out concerts (only two were originally scheduled). When the dust had finally settled, the New York Times reported:

He (Vanska) served an ultimatum, threatening that if the lockout were not lifted in time for the current season, he would resign; as good as his word, he did. He conducted the locked-out players in concerts that they themselves organized. And he engaged in what some have called slash-and-burn tactics, dropping little verbal bombshells aimed especially at the president, Mr. Henson, essentially demanding his resignation.

Even now, he says that he and Mr. Henson “are not going to work together” in the four months that remain of Mr. Henson’s tenure. Mr. Henson said, “I will continue to collaborate with colleagues in whatever way best serves the organization in the months ahead.”

Does Mr. Vanska regret any of those tactics?

“I felt then, and the feeling is still strong,” he said, “that the orchestra needed me and I needed the orchestra.”

He finds positive aspects in the current situation: “a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.” More people know about the orchestra than ever did before, he said, and the players have learned some of what they can accomplish through their own resources.

“It will take time to rebuild,” Mr. Vanska said, “but it might be a surprisingly short time.”

“Maybe this had to happen to give us the idea that we must find something,” he added, “some way to work together.”

Note: Vanska returned to the helm and recently led the orchestra in a highly-touted European tour.

This is leadership, in both cases from the public face of the organization. Stakeholders outside the organization care little about Boards and budgets; they care about the music and the people making it.

As for Fort Worth Music Director Miguel Harth-Bedoya? Silence...