Quincy Porter: The Complete Viola Works by Cleveland Orchestra violist Eliesha Nelson has been nominated for Grammies in four different categories. Read more on Eliesha’s website.
Two recent Cleveland Orchestra recordings have also been nominated for Grammies: Wagner: Wesendonck Lieder with Franz Welser-Most, conductor, and Measha Brueggergosman, soprano, and Mozart Piano Concertos Nos. 23 and 24 with Mitsuko Uchida. Both albums are available on iTunes and Amazon.com.
And Cantando, the recent solo recording by Principal Trombone Massimo La Rosa was featured on the Best Albums list on cdbaby.com.
The Happy Dog and the Gordon Square Arts District are partnering with The Cleveland Orchestra for a night we’re calling ‘Gordon Square Goes to the Orchestra.’ The Orchestra has agreed to offer a special rate for their next Friday’s @ 7 event on December 3rd – lower level Orchestra seats for only $25 – the seats in this section would normally go for $65!
Lolly the Trolley will make trips from the Happy Dog to Severance Hall for the concert and after-party, then back to the Happy Dog for a no-cover show with Bill Fox and Tadpoles, then back to Severance Hall for East-siders who left their cars in University Circle. Tickets include transportation.
See the Facebook page for more information.
‘We want people to feel comfortable,’ the cellist Charles Bernard told The Cleveland Plain Dealer. ‘That’s the whole point.’
New York Times
See Joshua Smith’s blog for more.
The future of the venerable Detroit Symphony Orchestra, one of the country’s great cultural institutions, is being threatened. The DSO musicians are on strike, protesting cuts that could severely jeopardize their standing among America’s top orchestras.
Like any business, an orchestra’s long-term viability depends upon its ability to hire and retain talent. Advances in the quality and integrity of an institution that take decades to achieve can be done away with overnight.
Members of the the Cleveland Orchestra will join the Detroit Symphony Orchestra Musicians on stage in a concert on October 24th. Please help us support the future of the Detroit Symphony Orchestra.
Excerpted from the full article by Reed Johnson in the Los Angeles Times:
Some 10 years after Borda took over an artistically esteemed but financially embattled, spottily attended institution, the philharmonic today has the largest annual budget of any American symphony orchestra, performs in a world-renowned architectural landmark, is led by the charismatic young Venezuelan conductor Gustavo Dudamel and has embarked on an ambitious effort to bring classical music training to the area’s children, particularly underserved ethnic minorities.
Many, inside and outside the organization, credit a large measure of the Phil’s success to its risk-taking, ultra-confident, Armani-clad CEO. Frank Gehry, architect of Disney Hall, echoed others in suggesting that what’s most distinctive about Borda’s leadership style is her willingness to embrace calculated risk as a creative strategy and treat innovation as an imperative.
“She jumps off cliffs,” Gehry said. “I find that exhilarating about her. There’s never an arbitrary, ‘No, I won’t look at that.’ ”
Borda’s reputation for demanding as much of others as she demands of herself is matched by the professional respect and affection she commands in classical music circles. In interviews with more than two dozen colleagues and associates in Southern California, other parts of the U.S. and abroad, no one offered a negative word about her. Those who know her best, and work most closely with her, don’t hesitate to praise.
“She’s transparent. She’s collaborative,” said David Bohnett, the Phil’s board chairman. “Very classic, successful CEO traits in terms of giving people a sense of ownership and a sense of responsibility, and a sense of accountability.”
Peter Rofe, a bassist with the L.A. Philharmonic since 1986 and head of the musicians’ negotiating committee, said Borda deserves much of the credit for the orchestra having one of the nation’s most generous labor contracts, as well as for its artistic quality. “I think right now we have the best management in the country,” he said.
Robert Cutietta, dean of USC’s Thornton School of Music, said that Borda has been “a wonderful spokesperson” and leader not only for the Phil but also for L.A. culture in general.
“She has been on our campus so many times for different reasons,” he said. “That’s amazing to me, that the executive director of the L.A. Phil would be so accessible and so willing to come to campus and do things for students.”
Ask Borda who deserves credit for the current prosperity and she’ll respond with paeans to former Phil music director Esa-Pekka Salonen, the Phil’s legendary impresario Ernest Fleischmann, Dudamel, the orchestra, her board, her staff and the inspirational feng-shui of Disney Hall. “I always say I don’t do anything,” she said. “I help other people to do things.”
Apropos the above article, see Peter Rofe’s comments regarding the L.A. Phil’s management excerpted from the full article in the International Musician Magazine:
“We probably have the best management team in the business,” Rofé boasts. Rofé recognizes the importance of a smooth working relationship between everyone involved in orchestra operations. “You need to have teamwork between the musicians, the board, and management, and we’ve always had open communication,” he explains. “It helps if you can develop personal relationships. That way, when issues come up, [management] knows that they can trust you, and you know that you can trust them.”
Rofe recently took on a new challenge, when he was asked to become a negotiator for the International Conference of Symphony and Opera Musicians (ICSOM) Electronic Media Committee. “Unlike with the L.A. Phil, I was negotiating with managers I did not have personal relationships with,” he says. “That was eye-opening, and I got a sense of what my colleagues are up against.”
Check out this fantastic article about being a professional musician by Jeremy Mastrangelo, associate concertmaster of the Syracuse Sympohony Orchestra:
I can’t imagine anyone looking at an NFL player and saying, “You know, that must be the easiest job ever. Those guys work for 16 weeks out of the year (19 if they have a great year), and on those work weeks they are only playing on one day, and on that one day there’s only one hour of actual game time, and then they’re only on the field for half of the game. They only work for a half-hour a week … playing a game! There you go, easiest job ever.
Michael Miller inhabits the loudest section of the Cleveland Orchestra, yet he may be the mildest, most grounded person you’ll ever meet.
Solos: Hard work and humility landed trumpeter in Cleveland Orchestra, Plain Dealer
Thanks to all the Blossom concertgoers who joined the musicians for a pre-concert picnic Sunday afternoon! A great start to a beautiful evening, which culminated in Ann Hampton Callaway’s impromptu homage to Cleveland, and a not-soon-forgotten duet between the singer and Associate Concertmaster, Peter Otto.
Anthony Tomassini, music critic for the New York Times writes:
The opening work was Beethoven’s “Coriolan” Overture, and from the first moments — three vigorous statements of a stern, sustained C in the strings, each one bursting into a slashing chord — the sheer sound of the orchestra was mesmerizing. Throughout the program, which included a sensual account of Berg’s “Lulu” Suite and a fleet, involving performance of Beethoven’s “Eroica” Symphony, the overall sound was so rich, deep and focused, it was almost tactile.
Read the entire review.
(Click on the heading to leave a comment).
On May 8th, about 25 Cleveland Orchestra Musicians and family members participated in the Cleveland CureSearch Walk around Wade Oval. The event raised almost $50,000 towards fighting childrens’ cancer. Our team contributed $3,670, putting us in second place!
(Click on the heading to leave a comment).
By Plain Dealer guest columnist Charles Michener
February 07, 2010, 3:00AM
Just three days had passed since the Cleveland Orchestra musicians
settled a bitter contract dispute and here they were in Miami, playing
the opening concert of their 2010 residency as though none of that had
happened.
“How do they manage to sound as though they’re all breathing at exactly
the same time?” asked a friend who was hearing the orchestra live for
the first time.
The short answer is, “Who knows?” A longer answer would have to include
the esprit drilled into them by their late Olympian taskmaster George
Szell, who enjoined them to “play like the best players in the world,
no matter who is conducting you.”
The Cleveland players are renowned for professional obedience, and so
it may be surprising to realize that fueling their discontent with the
package first offered by management was something deeper than money. In
conversations I’ve had with a dozen of them, a common theme has
emerged: They have felt largely shut out of meaningful communication
with the board and management, estranged from the decision-making that
is navigating their orchestra through difficult times.
When I asked one player if he felt “disregarded,” he said, “The better
word is ‘dismissed.’ ”
In recent years, the orchestra has encountered unprecedented
challenges. The traditional audience base has shrunk and dispersed.
Pillars of corporate and private support have become scarce. Five years
ago, the board and administration began cultivating greener pastures
with residencies in Miami and Vienna and annual appearances in Europe’s
top concert halls — a “turnaround” strategy that has paid dividends in
prestige, player morale and new sources of revenue.
Along the way, something essential got overlooked: the orchestra’s
symbiotic relationship with the city that gave it birth. During this
same period, subscription sales dropped sharply and the orchestra ran
up its current deficit of
$2 million. On Thursday nights, when many of the big donors are in
attendance, the number of empty seats has been painful to see –
especially from the stage.
What happened? For one thing, according to some of the players, too
many programs have seemed devised more for their potential bang out of
town than for nurturing local audiences. The marketing slogan, “Hear
What the World is Talking About,” has only reinforced the sense that
the orchestra is more concerned with winning approval elsewhere than in
its own back yard. The orchestra’s summer gig at Blossom Music Center
hasn’t aspired to being the “festival” it calls itself, but in its
serious programs has been content to be mostly a warm-up for Europe.
The players say that local marketing efforts have been diffident. For
example, said one, little attention has been paid to the needs of older
music lovers in the outlying suburbs who would happily come to concerts
in the city if group transportation were available. Several players
lamented the fact that Severance Hall has been mostly dark during the
orchestra’s absences — a missed chance for building new audiences and
maintaining the hall as a lively destination.
During the current season, the players have been cheered by
management’s new focus on Cleveland, notably the popular “Fridays@7″
concerts, which have debunked the myth that people under 40 aren’t
interested in classical music. But, as one went on to say, “So much
more needs to be done to fill those empty seats.”
American symphony orchestras, rooted in 19th-century music and
early-20th-century society, are just beginning to wake up to the fact
that they live in a new century of flux. Creative adaptability, not
reverence for the past, is essential to their survival. I believe that
to thrive in these times, the Cleveland Orchestra, like so many other
orchestras in similar straits, must explore ways of re-inventing itself
from within. For starters, the board and the administration might
invite the players to take a greater role in the affairs of the
organization, including fund-raising, marketing, education, program
planning and the crucial task of finding new revenue streams.
The so-called Big Five orchestras — in Cleveland, New York, Boston,
Chicago and Philadelphia — traditionally have barred the players from
such extramusical activities. Founded by business leaders, most of
America’s symphonies have followed a three-legged model: The board
gives money (and hires the executive director and music director);
management manages; the players play. There is no overlap of functions.
At three of the top European orchestras, things work differently. The
London Symphony Orchestra, the Berlin Philharmonic and the Vienna
Philharmonic are musicians’ cooperatives: The players choose the board,
the executive director, the music director and one another. “We are the
orchestra,” they say. “It’s only sensible for us to be engaged with the
institution as a whole.”
The most obvious benefit of properly channeled musician involvement is
the greater sense of ownership the players would feel, reducing the
chance of another bruising contract fight. A more far-reaching benefit
is that the Cleveland Orchestra could become a new model for other
American orchestras — one that would draw the most talented musicians
not only for its musical excellence, but also for the dynamism of its
institutional culture.
The players I talked to are bursting with ideas for developing ongoing
partnerships with local cultural and medical institutions (“And what
about the Cavs?”). They’re eager to experiment with new concert formats
designed to appeal to today’s eclectic musical tastes. They’re ready to
help devise new marketing initiatives aimed at young professionals who,
as one player put it, “might be surprised to discover that many of us
are young professionals, too.” And some of them might even be willing
to rethink the old labor contracts that lock them into inflexible
schedules and fixed compensation. For a more collaborative dynamism to
work, the trustees and management must be fully on board.
During a rehearsal in Miami, Dennis LaBarre, the recently named
president of the governing Musical Arts Association and a corporate
lawyer at the highly collaborative firm of Jones Day, went to the heart
of the matter: We, the trustees, he said, want to know you better and
we want you to know us better.
Instruments in hand, the musicians showed their approval by stamping
their feet.
Musically, the Cleveland players speak better than just about any
comparable group in the world. The orchestra’s overseers should open
their ears to what else they have to say.
Michener, a longtime cultural journalist, profiled the Cleveland
Orchestra for The New Yorker magazine in 2005. He is currently working
on a book about Cleveland called “The Hidden City.”
Conceived and spearheaded by the Musicians of the Cleveland Orchestra, with the support of The Musical Arts Association, and the co-operation of The New World Symphony.
CLEVELAND, January 19, 2010 – The Musicians’ Union and Management of The Cleveland Orchestra reached an agreement early this morning for a new three-year contract through September 2, 2012.
The agreement calls for a two-year wage freeze through August 2011, followed by semi-annual wage increases of 3% and 2% in the subsequent year. In addition, the Musicians will donate up to 10 services, which will provide cost relief and additional revenue for the Musical Arts Association. Musicians will increase their medical premium contribution beginning in July 2011.
The agreement was announced by the Musicians’ Committee Chairman, Jeffrey Rathbun, and the Orchestra’s Executive Director, Gary Hanson.
Mr. Rathbun said, “We are very happy that management has heard our message and agreed not to further erode our base compensation allowing us to stay as competitive as possible with the marketplace. We look forward to working together to build our base of support and continue our tradition of excellence.”
Mr. Hanson said, “Both sides worked effectively through a difficult process to reach an unprecedented agreement that will do much to help the Association’s finances going forward. I am very grateful for the Musicians’ passion and abiding concern for the Orchestra’s artistic excellence.”
The agreement was ratified by the musicians on Tuesday afternoon at Severance Hall. The agreement brings an end to a strike by the Union representing the musicians, Local 4 of the American Federation of Musicians, which began at midnight on January 18. The short strike caused the postponement of a scheduled Residency by the Orchestra at Indiana University. The Orchestra’s Miami Residency performances will proceed as scheduled.
The Orchestra Committee negotiating on behalf of the Musicians also included Mary Kay Fink, Eli Matthews, Jonathan Sherwin, and Paul Yancich, represented by attorney Bruce Simon. The negotiating team for Management included Gary Ginstling, James Menger, and Karen Tucholski, represented by attorney Frank Buck.
Negotiations were assisted by FMCS Mediators Jack Buettner and Laura Shepard, who provided tireless and invaluable service in helping the parties reach agreement.
The following is a statement from the Musicians of the Cleveland Orchestra
January 17, 2010
You may quote Jeffrey Rathbun, oboist and chair of the musicians’ negotiating committee
As musicians, going on strike was never something we imagined when we were in music school, and certainly not when we were fortunate enough to be selected to join the legendary Cleveland Orchestra. We expected this to be the last and best job we would ever have. Unfortunately, in recent times that has not been the case.
We are sorely disappointed that management has not acknowledged the sacrifices we have made in compensation and benefits in our last two contracts, or our offer to continue to work for the next contract year with no increase in salary or benefits. They want more cuts. They have taken reductions and say we need to feel the pain yet again — “shared sacrifice” they call it — going beyond the impact we’ve been feeling from the concessions we gave in our last two contract negotiations. We may be considered to be amongst the best in the world musically, but we are a far cry from being compensated that way or treated that way. In our judgment, if we were to accept management’s offer it would be the beginning of the end of The Cleveland Orchestra as one of the leading ensembles in the world.
To remain competitive, and to retain the great players we have, we can’t keep slipping behind. Our reputation is at stake and we have to stay competitive in compensation in order to stay competitive in quality. Our decision to strike is not about the money in the short term. It’s about the integrity of our brand; our reputation as musicians and our pride in representing our home town, Cleveland, Ohio, as we perform around the country and around the world. As one of our members said in a recent meeting, “I came here to play with The Cleveland Orchestra, not some orchestra in Cleveland.”
We are officially on strike effective at midnight tonight. Starting tomorrow we will be picketing in front of our beautiful home, Severance Hall. The acoustics of the hall are amongst the best in the world so we expect our protest to reverberate loudly and, hopefully, to resonate with music lovers everywhere.
We regret that it appears we will not be going to our residency at Indiana University and we send apologies to the students, faculty and alumni. We also regret that we will not be playing in our winter home at the Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts and trust that our friends and supporters in Miami understand that if we played, it would be a great series of concerts in the short term and the beginning of the end of the quality that they, and people everywhere, have come to expect from The Cleveland Orchestra.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT: Howard Landau
Office: 216-912-2880
Mobile: 216-647-4488
hLandau@LandauPR.com
Cleveland Orchestra Musicians Step Off the Stage and Into the Audience With Their Message
Sunday Martin Luther King Concert is the Last Performance Before a Possible Strike
(Cleveland, Ohio…January 14, 2010) Just before their scheduled performance of tonight, members of The Cleveland Orchestra left the stage to go into the audience to pass out a brochure explaining their position in their contract negotiation with management. The Orchestra has been playing without a contract since September 1. Talks have broken down with management which is insisting on an immediate 5% pay cut. The members asking for a status quo, or pay freeze contract for the next eight months, after which bargaining would start again.
“We wish it hadn’t come to this,” Jeffrey Rathbun, oboist and co-chairman of the orchestra committee, said. “We have accepted concessions in both salary and benefits for the past two contracts, covering the past five years. Because of our concessions, we’ve helped management save millions of dollars. At the same time, unfortunately, our ranking has slipped from the top tier to number eight in the nation. There’s no way a city like Cleveland can stay competitive to attract and retain the best talent in the world without paying a competitive wage. We love living here, but not everyone agrees. We’re not doing this for ourselves as much as for the future reputation of this great orchestra,” Rathbun concluded.
The orchestra is scheduled to leave for a residency at Indiana University on Monday, followed by a sold-out engagement at the Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts in Miami. Unless meaningful talks resume in the next three days, a strike seems unavoidable.
“A strike is a lose/lose situation,” Rathbun said, “But we are passionate about protecting our reputation as one of the best in the world. The orchestra can’t maintain its level of quality in the future without the ability to compete financially with our peers. We apologize to our many fans, particularly those who have tickets and who were hoping to hear us play. We hope they understand that we are doing this for them too, so when they buy ticket or a CD that says The Cleveland Orchestra on it, they will be truly hearing the best musicians in an ensemble that is unparalleled in its precision and quality.”
At the conclusion of this Sunday’s Martin Luther King Concert, the musicians’ offer of a one year freeze to MAA will expire. As we approach this crucial deadline, it is critical that we stay united as a group.
It is also the time for all of our supporters to express their views by calling board members, writing to the Plain Dealer, and talking to your neighbors and friends. Please let MAA know that you are disappointed at their determination to “demote” us.
Help us keep The Cleveland Orchestra great.
Thanks.
January 11, 2010
Mr. Gary Hanson
Executive Director
The Musical Arts Association
11001 Euclid Avenue
Cleveland, OH 44106
Dear Gary:
We are amazed by your recent open letter to orchestra supporters stating that “the orchestra’s official work week is 20 hours.” You of all people should know how much time is involved in performing at your best.
There’s an expression we all grew up with: Practice makes perfect. Children learn it in school and on the field in sports. If you do your homework, if you go the extra mile, and if you practice and practice some more, you can be the best.
The Cleveland Orchestra is praised wherever we go not just for the program we played that day, but for our work ethic and commitment to the highest quality of music-making. Each of us spends countless hours outside of rehearsals and concerts to be prepared to perform and to stay proficient at our chosen instruments. Can you imagine what The Cleveland Orchestra would sound like if our work consisted of only those twenty hours?
Hourly workers are paid by the hour. Musicians are not hourly workers and our compensation is not based on a mathematic formula designed to generate a “minimum wage.” There’s another maxim we all grew up with: You get what you pay for.
Sincerely,
The Cleveland Orchestra Committee
Jeffrey Rathbun, Chairman
Mary Kay Fink
Eli Matthews
Jonathan Sherwin
Paul Yancich
On behalf of The Members of the Cleveland Orchestra
THE CLEVELAND ORCHESTRA COMMITTEE
Jeffrey Rathbun, Chairman; Mary Kay Fink, Eli Matthews, Jonathan Sherwin, Paul Yancich
Collectively Represented By
CLEVELAND FEDERATION of MUSICIANS
LOCAL 4 of the AMERICAN FEDERATION of MUSICIANS
3631 Perkins Avenue Suite 4C North Cleveland, Ohio 44114-4705
tele: (216) 881-1802 fax: (216) 881-5270
Leonard DiCosimo, President Dennis Chandler, Vice President
Sandra W. Baxter, Secretary/Treasurer
Jeffry Cavallo, Charles ‘Al’ Couch, John Gallo, Richard Waugh, Executive Board
January 9, 2010
Dear Board Member of the Musical Arts Association,
We take the unorthodox step of writing to you directly because the negotiating representatives of Musical Arts Association (MAA) have repeatedly cited the trustees as the source of two critical positions being asserted across the bargaining table.
- The endowment, existing lines of credit, bond fund reserves and Blossom Music Center sale proceeds are sacrosanct, and should not be used to meet the cash flow challenges MAA faces. Instead, economic sacrifices must be borne by the orchestra’s musicians.
- Major donors will not maximize their contributions in the absence of evidence that the orchestra’s musicians have granted concessions at the bargaining table.
We believe these two positions go to the heart of the deep and fundamental difference between the position of the orchestra musicians and MAA which, if left unresolved, will most definitely lead to unfortunate and tragic consequences.
All of us understand the difficult economic environment in which these negotiations are taking place. We understand the impact on the endowment fund of the market’s fluctuations and the ability of major donors to increase, let alone match, previous contributions. We also see clearly from the stage what has happened to ticket sales and subscriptions in our home city.
We are aware of the Board’s continuing efforts to deal with the structural challenges faced by MAA through the Turnaround Plan. We applaud the success of the Plan through the first quarter of the 2009 until impacted by the recession. We also acknowledge the recent recovery of the stock market though the fourth quarter of 2009.
However, we are also keenly aware of the increasing gap in compensation as compared with our peer symphony orchestras, and the inevitable negative effect on the orchestra’s status. We have enclosed a chart comparing the top ranked orchestras in the United States. The gap in annual compensation has grown from approximately $3,000 to $15,000 this decade. MAA’s proposal to us would double this annual gap to approximately $30,000 in three more years. We urge you to consider this as we work to reconcile the desire to maintain the musical quality and artistic integrity of the orchestra in a fiscally responsible way.
Simply stated, The Cleveland Orchestra will not be able to recruit, let alone retain, world class musicians with second tier compensation and benefits. Period. Anyone who believes to the contrary is mistaken.
MAA has proposed a decrease in compensation and benefits of at least $8,000.00 per musician over the next three seasons. The musicians have proposed to freeze salary and benefits for one year. This will allow MAA more time to put the institution on sounder financial footing. It is a concessionary agreement both sides have experience with. In 2004, the musicians offered – and MAA accepted – a freeze in compensation and benefits.
We find it hard to believe our major donors will hold back their support unless orchestra musicians have their salaries lowered and their health insurance diminished. We know our donors and they know us. We are the reason they write their checks and, in so-doing, express their pride in our work and our collective ranking as one of the best orchestras in the world.
Our donors are not just music enthusiasts; they are also sharp business people and understand you do not stay competitive with second tier compensation. We have had the best talent in the world wanting to play in Cleveland. Up until now, these artists have known they will be rewarded both with applause and with competitive compensation. When the latter is diminished, the product suffers.
Finally, you should be aware that the negotiating representatives of MAA and the musicians’ obtained the services of an outstanding financial consultant to perform a classic due diligence exercise to consider the financial status of MAA and its related institutions, its strategy and business plans for its future – much as a donor, lender or potential investor would undertake in response to an institution’s request for financial assistance.
Eugene Keilin, an investment banker of exceptional experience and background, performed this service pro-bono. Keilin’s report to us indicated that it would be preferable to put off discussions on a new contract until the economy was more fully recovered. To show good faith in this process, and to advance the negotiating process, the orchestra musicians have dropped all previous economic proposals to MAA and offered a one-year freeze consistent with Keilin’s findings.
In view of the difficult and complex financial and economic circumstances affecting these negotiations, and the significance of the outcome to The Cleveland Orchestra, the Greater Cleveland community, and our patrons around the world, we believe that this course of action represents the best solution for all concerned.
On behalf of all of us who carry The Cleveland Orchestra banner proudly, we want to thank you for your continued support of the musicians. We look forward to resolving our differences and to getting back to doing what we do best, working in concert for the love of music.
Sincerely,
The Cleveland Orchestra Committee
Jeff Rathbun, Chairman
Mary Kay Fink
Eli Matthews
Jonathan Sherwin
Paul Yancich
Leonard DiCosimo, Local 4 President
On Thursday, January 7 MAA put forth a press release which included several misleading statements. We provide them below along with our responses:
“The official work week is 20 hours.”
If the musicians of The Cleveland Orchestra did not prepare extensively at home for these “20 hours” it would not sound anything at all like The Cleveland Orchestra. There are many more hours of preparation, practice, making reeds, etc.
This statement exhibits either a gross misunderstanding of what we as musicians do, or an intentional effort to mislead the public.
“Management is seeking short-term concessions”
There is nothing short-term about their proposed slashes in health insurance or their desire to drastically reduce our compensation, for radio broadcasts, Internet broadcasts, video taping and audio recording. While the pay cut proposed is temporary, the end of the contract does not restore us to first-tier orchestra status. We would remain in the second tier … indefinitely. Do we want The Cleveland Orchestra to become a training orchestra for Boston, Chicago and NY?
“Music Director Franz Welser-Most and Executive Director Gary Hanson volunteered reductions in compensation of 20% and 15% respectively.”
And we thank them for that. Franz also conducts elsewhere, and it should be noted that this is only a portion of his total yearly salary.
As for Gary, he just renegotiated a new contract. He declined to share the details with us.