What price orchestal excellence?

What price orchestal excellence?

When Osmo Vänskä arrived as music director of the Minnesota Orchestra, he told players he wanted them to be the top U.S. orchestra and one of the best in the world.
Doug Wright, principal trombone, recalled the meeting last week as he reflected on a contract proposal from orchestra management that would cut average musician salaries by 34 percent.
"You've seen the press from all over the world," Wright said last week. "We've achieved a level of notoriety and skill that's made us world-renowned. And now we feel we're being penalized for achieving worldwide recognition."
The breadth and depth of the contract proposal stunned the union side. Wright, a veteran negotiator who is on this year's committee, said the board has proposed more than 250 changes to the contract, erasing "40 years of accrued working conditions and rules." And then there is the economic offer that would cut average pay by $45,000. Wright said that, in some cases, salary cuts could reach 50 percent.
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A strike last year in Detroit and bankruptcy in Philadelphia are the most visible signs of distress in an industry that has been battling financial deficits for 40 years. Unquestionably, the trend has hastened in the past several years, with orchestras in smaller metropolitan areas folding or severely truncating their seasons.
The Minnesota Orchestra has been balancing its budget by drawing from its endowment, a situation that Davis said is not sustainable. It is a mantra that he and Orchestra President Michael Henson have been repeating to donors and musicians alike for three years.
Wright said musicians are sensitive to the troubles. The union made $4.2 million in concessions during the 2009 recession, and, according to the musicians' website, the board "rejected outright" an offer two years ago of an additional $1.5 million in reductions.
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Final contracts at the Minnesota Orchestra and the SPCO likely will not include the draconian numbers in the initial trial balloons. The severity of those proposals, however, seems to have changed the dynamic between board and musicians. While West emphasized in an interview that "we value our musicians," the numbers speak for themselves.
Davis said there are two kinds of American orchestras: those that have gone through painful restructuring, and those that are going to go through it. Exceptions might be Los Angeles, San Francisco, New York and Chicago -- organizations with greater endowments or income streams. But the question of excellence and retaining top-tier talent strikes directly at the Minnesota talks.
"These are real people with real lives, and they have to protect their own financial circumstances and artistic integrity," Davis said, referring to the musicians. "There's a risk that they find their way to another place, and those who can leave will. It's going to be a personal decision where they want to perform."
http://www.startribune.com/entertainment/168850596.html?refer=y
Article by: GRAYDON ROYCE , Star Tribune
September 8, 2012 - 4:53 PM




                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                 
It becomes an issue of cutting budget for Minesota orchestra. The salary should not measure musician's ability, the minimum guideline for their salary with which they feel some proud of their position seems to necessary.
I think this budget cut and the relationship of money and the size of groups of musicians (especially for Orchestra members) are going to be significant and serious issue in near future during this economic crises.