When all is said and done, it's deja vu all over again

For those who crawled under a rock the morning of November 9, the news of the past week included

• A ballot recount in Wisconsin possibly followed up by Michigan and Pennsylvania.

• Hillary Clinton's lead in the popular vote surpasses two million.

• The death of Fidel Castro. 
  

• The end of the two-month-long strike at the Pittsburgh Symphony.

Bob Batz, Jr. reports in the Post-Gazette, The musicians, who went on strike Sept. 30, on Wednesday ratified a new five-year contract that includes a 10.5 percent pay cut in the first year, but thanks to a contribution from an anonymous donor, the actual pay cut will be 7.5 percent. Wages will be restored to pre-strike levels in the fifth year.

According to a recent press release, the musicians’ salaries are frozen in the second year; there’s a 3.3 percent increase in the third year; a 2.0 percent increase in the fourth year; and restoration to the 2016 base salary — approximately $107,000 — in the fifth year of the contract. It runs through Sept. 5, 2021. So in five years the orchestra will return to its 2015-16 wage. One has to seriously wonder: Why did this have to happen?

So much for the "last, best, and final offer" (such a predictable but old and tired phrase). “We asked the musicians to be a partner in the solution to the exceptionally difficult financial position we are working to correct, and we are grateful for their sacrifice,” PSO President and CEO Melia Tourangeau. “They have, indeed, come together with us in a powerful way to help position the Pittsburgh Symphony’s future.”

Speaking for the musicians' committee he chairs, Micah Howard called the concessions “painful and substantial,” but noted, "Both parties came together in the spirit of true compromise, to ensure that we can resume performing at Heinz Hall.”

Heinz Hall, originally Loew's Penn Theatre, Pittsburgh

Contract talks commenced early in the year, but there were no active negotiations until June. Federal mediators attempted to smooth out the discussions, but nothing was moving forward as the orchestra's management was entrenched in its insistence on an immediate 15 percent pay cut. Again, if there was wiggle room, why didn't Tourangeau & Co. bargain in good faith? Management took nearly a month to share accurate financial information to the players.

So the music will finally return to Heinz Hall. Management, although accruing no ticket revenue, saved two months of salaries it didn't have to pay. And Music Director Manfred Honeck has finally spoken, “I am just delighted that we will once again experience the unique artistic excellence of our world-class musicians and be able to welcome our loyal audiences back to Heinz Hall. It is a special Thanksgiving blessing that the Board of Trustees, management, and our musicians have reached this exceptionally important agreement. I cannot wait to return to Pittsburgh to be reunited with my Heinz Hall family.” (Of course, he's probably paid whether or not he's on the podium.

O TEMPORE! O MORES!

.....from Cicero, First Oration against Catiline.

I've been away from the blog for a few weeks and for a few reasons: first, to slog through the vitriol that flowed from the waning days of the Presidential campaigns, and second, to slog through all the vitriol of the aftermath of November 8. I'm not at all happy with the outcome (there, I said it!) but it is what it is, and all Americans need to hope that this great experiment in democracy will survive.

Speaking of survival:

The website of the Fort Worth musicians reported on October 24:

Despite a return to the negotiation table on Saturday, Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra (FWSO) Management has announced today that it is unilaterally canceling concerts through December 31, 2016. This comes after rebuffing Musicians’ repeated offers to collaborate with Management to develop financial solutions to resolve the nearly seven-week-long dispute.

Management is so intent on getting cuts in any way possible; they are now taking it out on the people of Fort Worth directly,” said Musicians Union President Stewart Williams. “In our last meeting, we called upon Symphony President Amy Adkins to stop these cancellations and discuss ways for Musicians and Management to work together, not only to develop new revenue but also to better serve the community. She refused to consider any such options. Instead, she is forcing cuts through cancellations, slashing concert after concert, in reckless disregard for the people the FWSO serves.”

This action, of course, eliminates the highly successful (and lucrative) holiday concerts and assures the un-merriest of Christmases in that city. Oddly enough, an ad for Fort Worth (just the city) popped up on an arts blog I was reading. Their motto--"Cowboys and Culture"--has become only half right. However, the Musicians of the Fort Worth Symphony will offer their own "Fort Worth Family Christmas Concert" on November 27 at the Will Rogers Auditorium, a nearly 3000-seat hall. Conductor Miguel Harth-Bedoya is nowhere in sight.

Will Rogers Auditorium: a bit bland but it used to be adequate for the FWSO.

The orchestra has not led an endowment campaign since 2000; the development office is in shambles (five VPs in five years) and Management insists there is no money to be found, even though there has been a 30% uptick in the economy since the draconian 13.5% salary cuts in 2011. An important note includes the efforts of the Fort Worth Opera, which, in three months this past summer raised over $1 million dollars and doubled its donor base. There is money in Fort Worth--lots of it. BUT, those donors are not going to donate to what appears to be "Management without Music."

I'll say it again: CEO Amy Adkins is out of her element; her unwillingness to even acknowledge the collaborative efforts of the musicians further demonstrates her administrative myopia.

AND, one must not forget the gold-digging Board Chair, Mercedes Bass, who left her first husband because he wasn't rich enough (and 27 years her senior), for her second, the son of one of the wealthiest men in America. Forbes estimated Sid Bass's net worth at $2.1 billion. Before their divorce, she'd done an excellent job of spending Sid's fortune, even donating $25 million to the Met. She has the dough to right the ship (the Dallas News estimated the settlement to be $300 million) Of course, the Fort Worth Symphony is not nearly as high-profile as anything in New York City. (other sources: NY Post and NY Times)

MEANWHILE IN PITTSBURGH:

The same slash and burn philosophy holds true in the city of three rivers, which has morphed itself from a rust belt steel town to one of technology and culture (and great brewpubs!). But, "cancel, cancel, cancel" is management's solution to whatever perceived problem exists (PSI-Pittsburgh Symphony, Incorporated refuses to release the 2015-16 financials). This much is known:

• $33.03 million = Total expenses in 2015, lower than either of the two previous years.

• $21.2 million = 2015 contributions, an increase of some $13 million from 2014.

• $124.1 million** = Endowment net assets, 2015.

**does not include assets held in trust by others, or the “1963 endowment” (which holds approximately $10 million in assets and provides ~$600,000 in operating support to the PSO annually. The PSI does not include the income from the 1963 endowment in its budgeting forecasts, for reasons that have never been explained to the Musicians.)

So it's the same old story: concerts canceled, management refusing to negotiate. On some of the latest news, check out this article from the Post-Gazette. The accompanying photo is, in a word, priceless!

And, of course, Manfred Honeck is nowhere to be seen. He--not Board of Trustees Chair Devin McGranahan nor CEO Melia P. Tourangeau--is the public face of the organization and should be leading negotiations in Pittsburgh instead of flying to his next gig.

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.

WHY SHOULD I CARE?

As a conductor and teaching musician in Iowa, I am sure that many readers must wonder exactly why I should even care about labor strife in places like Texas and Pennsylvania. I don't really consider myself a mouthpiece for musicians around the country. Call me an idealist (yes, sometimes I wished that I lived in Europe, where many of the arts are state-subsidized) if you will. In an increasingly contentious world--economically and politically--I refuse to fall into the trap of expediency but will continue to fight what I feel is the good fight for the art that I love and for the people who make it.

ABOUT PHILADELPHIA:

At only two days, this was nearly the shortest strike on record. That "honor" probably goes to the Chicago Symphony, which settled a 2015 stalemate in little over 24 hours. One has to wonder whether or not the timing of the strike--immediately preceding the orchestra's gala concert--had an impact on the alacrity of the agreement. Could it be that the audience at that performance--the well-heeled donors to the organization--demanded that the strike is settled quickly and fairly?

My own "connection" to this wonderful orchestra goes back to my youth. The "Fabulous Philadelphians" and longtime conductor Eugene Ormandy had one of the most lucrative recording contracts in the business. My collection is still filled with a large number of LPs from their vast library. Philadelphia was the go-to ensemble for just about everything, but my Philly experience goes deeper still.

Ormandy and Cliburn, 1967

The first time I ever heard a Mahler Symphony (no. 1) was, in fact, a live performance given by the Philadelphia Orchestra in May 1976 at the old Auditorium at Michigan State University. Quite frankly, I didn't care what they were going to play. This was the Philadelphia Orchestra(!) and Ormandy was conducting! Now I can remember little of the first half of the show but the second--my initial immersion into the sound world of Gustav Mahler--was a cathartic moment for me. Soon after, I decided--like so many before me--to abandon thoughts of pursuing a law degree and entered music school. It's been a sometimes bumpy ride but here I am.

Old Auditorium, Michigan State University
Yes, the Fabulous Philadelphians played here in 1976.

One more thought about the state of this fine ensemble: it amazes me that, in newsprint and otherwise, a group of orchestras--New York, Boston, Philadelphia, Cleveland, and Chicago--are still referred to as the "Big Five." In 2013 Jame Oestreich reported in the New York Times that In fact, the criteria of membership in the Big Five, never firmly established, began with quantities. They included size of budget, number of recordings, amount of touring (especially stops in New York), presence on radio and television, and number of year-round musicians. This old matrix no longer holds true.

Drew McManus in his Adaptistration blog, assembles a wealth of information each year gleaned from the IRS 990 forms. While these are available on-line, it's much easier if someone else does the work. The current "Big Five" (in terms of total expenditures) is now:

1. Los Angeles Philharmonic ($118 M)
2. Boston Symphony ($88.5 M)
3. Chicago Symphony ($80 M)
4. San Francisco Symphony ($74.5 M)
5. New York Philharmonic ($73 M)

Cleveland comes in at #6 ($51M); Philadelphia has "fallen" to #7 ($45 M). Of course, big budgets are not a harbinger of quality. The Minnesota Orchestra, arguably in the "artistic big five", spends less than $25 M. A more telling picture comes out when comparing CEO compensation, but that's for another day.

* * * * * * * * * *

Pittsburgh Symphony management has taken an excessive and possibly unprecedented hard line relative to its current strike. Excerpts from a recent letter from Pittsburgh COO Christian Schörnich to union musicians (dated yesterday, October 4): You must realize that the PSI has an obligation to keep Heinz Hall open and operating to serve our patrons and others as they expect and as may be required. In order to do so, it may require us to hire replacement workers, either on a temporary or permanent basis, as will be determined by the business necessity that we face. (Boldface in the original.)

Yes, the PSI just stated that they intend on hiring scabs to fill the seats of their world-class orchestra. Good luck with that.

The view outside Heinz Hall

In the meantime, the musicians held a previously scheduled free day of music across the city. Read all about it here.

And a final note: Where's Manfred Honeck?

FALLING DOMINOS

....Orchestras continue to fall. This story from Pittsburgh:

Pittsburgh Symphony musicians go on strike, concerts canceled

Management of the venerable orchestra predicts that the combined deficit of the organization will reach $20 million (it currently sits at $11 million). The tried and true solution? Balance the books on the backs of the people making the music (aren't they the people that audiences come to hear?), to the tune (pun intended) of a 15% salary decrease. The ham-handed proposal also includes a "hard freeze" of the pension plan (replaced by a 401k for those with less than 30 years of service) and a reduction in the size of the ensemble. This sounds all too familiar.

Negotiations began in February and got nowhere, ending in the work stoppage. Ten days of effort by the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service (which succeeded in the Metropolitan Opera near-fiasco a year ago) failed to produce an agreement between the parties.

A story reported by Mark Kanny of Tri Total Media stated, “When new management stepped in at the Pittsburgh Symphony, we undertook a diagnostic situation assessment that caused us to realize that we are facing an imminent financial crisis. That assessment showed that, due to a combination of forces, we would run out of cash and have to close the doors in May/June 2017,” said board chairman Devin McGranahan in a prepared statement. McGranahan and president Melia Tourangeau took office in 2015. 

What combination of forces?

Despite a history dating back to 1898 (except for a 16-year lapse) and world-class conductors such as Fritz Reiner, William Steinberg, Lorin Maazel, and Mariss Jansons, the management is just now figuring out that there may be a financial problem?

Interestingly enough, in one of her first interviews after arriving in Pittsburgh, Tourangeau said, “the priority is to get to a balanced budget. I feel there has been a tremendous amount of cost-cutting that has taken place. In my opinion, we have a revenue problem, not an expense problem.”
Norman Lebrecht, with whom I sometimes agree, offers this assessment, Management’s refusal to compromise clearly is ideological. New PSI Management has decided, against all evidence, that Pittsburgh somehow cannot support a world-class orchestra, and that a “new business model” is needed. This makes no sense. In 2016, the PSO’s Annual Fund hit a record; ticket sales are up; the Pittsburgh economy is dynamic; the Cultural District is thriving. This is no time for the PSI to abandon the idea that Pittsburgh deserves a world-class orchestra.

If ticket revenue is up and the Annual Fund is at record levels, show me the money.

* * * * * * * * * *

No one is budging in Fort Worth, where the orchestra has been on strike through most of September. The Star-Telegram published an incendiary editorial on September 12 and there has been no reporting of the rebuttal by the musicians (summarized here):

We (the FWSO musicians) just ask you to consider the following as you decide for yourself about fiscal responsibility. Is the FWSO Management being fiscally responsible when they:

• Fall short on raising enough money to pay the musicians?
• Use a contingency fund every year to cover operating costs?
• Ignore professional advice to expand the fundraising department?
• Have a new Vice-President of Development every year?
• Don’t have a Strategic Plan past the year 2017?

It is obvious that CEO Amy Adkins is out of her element. Development is the most important issue facing the orchestra. The fact that Development V-Ps last an average of one year says something about management at the top.

Little has been said of Board Chair Mercedes Bass, who also serves as Vice Chairman of the Board of Trustees and the Executive Committee of the Carnegie Hall Corporation as well as Managing Director of the Board of Trustees and Executive Board of the Metropolitan Opera (to which she donated $25 million in 2006. And there's more, including a role with the Aspen Music School (member of the Advisory Board), the Aspen Institute (trustee), and Vice Chairman of the Executive Committee and a member of the Board of Trustees of the American Academy in Rome. After divorcing state department official Francis L. Kellogg in 1988 and marrying Texas billionaire Sid Bass, that marriage ended in 2011, but the settlement left her well off.

Her Fort Worth home
(She also has residences in Colorado and New York City)

The Fort Worth concert hall her in-laws built

She could solve the orchestra's finances with a check out of her pin money account, without cutting into more high-profile gifts to a Lincoln Center opera company.

* * * * * * * * * *

COULD PHILLY FALL (Again?)

Calling management's latest offer "regressive", musicians of the Philadelphia Orchestra are none too happy either. Once part of the venerable "Big Five" of American ensembles (according to budget size), Philly now sits at number 8, and musician salaries continue to fall further behind their colleagues in cities like Boston. 

The contract has already expired and something (or someone) has to move. CEO Allison Vulgamore's track record is not strong (note her previous "service" in Atlanta). The 2011 bankruptcy still looms large, especially for an organization that maintained a $140 million endowment, owned (and still owns) the Academy of Music, and had no debts! Huh?

The Philadelphia Academy of Music (1857)
And nothing wrong with the acoustics
http://www.totaltheater.com/?q=node/467

The musicians note in their September newsletter:

Although the filing in April 2011 was opposed by the musicians, the public was told that it was a necessary step and that when the Orchestra emerged from bankruptcy, things would be much better.

When the court approved the bankruptcy, the Association made wholesale changes to our pension plan. The Plan was frozen and its administration was transferred to the Pension Benefit Guarantee Corporation, a U. S. government entity. Some musicians may receive lower pensions than they would have earned under the frozen Plan. The retirement benefits which were substituted for the Plan do not guarantee the benefit level specified in the Plan. In addition, the orchestra musicians, who had voluntarily taken a wage freeze the year before, and who had donated a significant amount of money to the Association, saw their salaries reduced by more than 14 percent. The size of the orchestra was also reduced, from 106 full-time positions to 95.

The Association, according to the Philadelphia Inquirer's Peter Dobrin, spent “almost $10 million in professional fees and expenses” on the bankruptcy, and paid settlements of $1.75 million to the American Federation of Musicians Pension Plan, and $1.25 million to the Philly Pops in the process.

More than five years later, Musicians hoped that the Association would view the bankruptcy as a temporary means to regroup and ultimately restore the kind of budget that is necessary to fund a major symphony orchestra, rather than as a way to downgrade the musicians' contract permanently. More than five years later, we are still waiting.

* * * * * * * * * *

Contract talks at the Pacific Symphony (budget $20 million) have halted. Musicians’ Bargaining Committee Chairperson Adam Neeley states, “The Pacific Symphony is the only professional orchestra in the United States with any significant annual budget that does not provide a weekly wage or annual guarantee of wages to its musicians.” Neeley states further, “Musicians have no predictability of their income from week to week, month to month or year to year.”

* * * * * * * * * *

Who is next?

THE BAD, THE WORST, AND THE UGLIEST

Recently I chronicled happenings in three American orchestras, noting that life was good in San Diego (with the best weather in the U.S., it would be hard to beat), rumblings were coming out of Pittsburgh, and the situation in Fort Worth? It hasn't gotten any better. Here's an update:

In Pittsburgh:

Life for symphony musicians in the City of Three Rivers (and big changes from the days of Big Steel) hasn't improved. The orchestra is stilled mired in million dollar + deficits and the orchestra's contract expired a week ago. Since then, things have seemed eerily quiet. Judging by recent history in the overall business (think Atlanta, Minnesota), this is definitely not a good sign.

Pittsburgh, where the Pirates are mired in 3rd place and the orchestra?
It is a gorgeous view, however.

In Philadelphia (what? again?)

The once-great ensemble (remember Stokowski and Ormandy) limped out of its 2011 bankruptcy proceedings with hope for the future. That hasn't happened. Peter Dobrin reports in the Inquirer, Musicians and management of the Philadelphia Orchestra Friday agreed to continue talking for an unspecified period of time beyond the end of the current labor deal, which had been set to expire at 12:01 a.m. Sept 12.

Management had offered no raise for two years and a mere one percent in each of the following three. As of now, no further negotiating sessions are scheduled, but the two sides seem amenable to a "play and talk" agreement for the immediate future. Personally, I trace the orchestra's financial problems to at least three areas:

Philadelphia's Academy of Music

• The orchestra formerly performed in the historic Academy of Music. Frowned on for less than favorable acoustics (although Stokowski and Ormandy seemed to make them work), the flashy, new Kimmel Center was built down the street. It's important to note that the orchestra, instead of being the landlord, is now a tenant. That cannot be financially prudent in difficult times.

• Management. The current CEO is Alison Vulgamore, she who left the Atlanta Symphony in shambles before skipping town. How does this continue to happen? Beats me.

• The fall-out from the Eschenbach years. The orchestra took a great slide in overall quality during the music directorship of Christoph Eschenbach. The infusion of exciting conductor Yannick Nézet-Séguin hasn't been enough to reverse the trend and bring back the faithful.

Fort Worth: On Strike

The musicians called management's bluff of its "last, best offer" of continued cuts and went against the recommendation of its union and went on strike at 12:30 PM Thursday. While the players seemed willing to play and talk, management (that is, out-of-her-element CEO Amy Adkins) went ahead and canceled opening-weekend concerts.

Management is also attempting a war of words in the press: The orchestra employs 65 full-time musicians with an average salary of $62,000 and health benefits. The proposed contract that musicians rejected included a significant pay cut in the first year and then small, incremental pay raises in the following three years. By the fourth year, the pay increases would have resulted in principal players being paid more than $70,000 a year. (From the Post-Telegram)

Unfortunately, this isn't true. Base salary under a new agreement would be $54K. Mentioning principal player's salaries (which are normally negotiated separately) is an unprofessional way of ingratiating the public. We pay $70K a year! Isn't that a lot of money? One has to wonder what the CEO (the former Development Director) is paid some $167K, according to the organization's most recent IRS 990 form (2014).

The basic problem is a simple one. Fort Worth has burned through at least five development VPs since Adkins (herself in that role for 11 years) in the past six years. Leadership is needed in this all-important area; the buck does stop at the top.

Interestingly enough, the Musicians of the Fort Worth Symphony (under that title) are performing next weekend with the local ballet. They have contracted themselves under the terms of the former contract with the orchestra. That little bit of goodwill should go a very long way.

Coming soon: the 2016-17 Quad City Wind Ensemble Season

CORRECTION: The local newspaper is the Fort Worth Star-Telegram.

Read more here: http://www.star-telegram.com/entertainment/arts-culture/article100625872.html#storylink=c

The Good, the Bad, and the Unknown

First, the good:

The San Diego Symphony, California's oldest at 106 years, announced a new five-year contract with its musicians. The average salary will raise from $70,000 to $80,000 over the length of the agreement. “We agreed to a contract structure,” noted CEO Martha Gilmer, “that respects the musicians of the orchestra and creates the best working atmosphere for their artistic growth while exploring new opportunities to strengthen the orchestra’s financial future. I could not be happier with the result, and feel that we have developed greater understandings that will enhance our working life together.” (reported in the San Diego Union Tribune).

While the upcoming season will be the last from Music Director Jahja Ling, the orchestra is in the midst of a worldwide search and is embarking on an ambitious plan of improvements to its outdoor concert venue.

Bayside Performance Center (foreground)

Up close

The bad:

The Pittsburgh Symphony is the second Pennsylvania orchestra (Philadelphia went through bankruptcy proceedings in 2011) to experience serious financial problems. President Malia Tourangeau tells the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review that the organization is at a "critical crossroad" after a $1.5 million deficit to close out the recent fiscal year. The orchestra's pension fund needs $10.4 million in the next five years.

The Symphony has only recently begun multi-year financial planning. “I was equally as surprised as everyone else when we did this 3-5 year projection and saw our cash obligations,” Ms. Tourangeau said. “In fact, I was a bit stunned to see what I was charged to turn around.”

AND, of course, the current contract expires on August 4. This does not bode well.

Heinz Hall, Pittsburgh

And the unknown:

The Fort Worth Star-Telegram reports that the symphony and the musicians, embroiled in a protracted labor dispute, reached a tentative contract agreement that still needs to be approved by the musicians. No details have been forthcoming.