As we shared yesterday on our Facebook and Twitter channels, the Minnesota Orchestra is the latest to fall under the oppressive cloud of today’s increasingly bleak reality for symphonies across the United States. Yesterday the orchestra went into lock-out mode: no salary or benefits for the musicians and no concerts for concertgoers at least through Nov. 25.
The Minnesota Orchestral Association (MOA) today announced that its fall performances, running from Thursday, October 18 through Sunday, November 25, have been cancelled, following the October 1 expiration of the collective bargaining agreement with its musicians. All ticketholders to impacted concerts are being contacted and offered a variety of ticket options including the opportunity to exchange tickets for a future concert or receive a refund.
Contract talks between the MOA and its musicians, who are members of the Twin Cities Musicians’ Union (Local 30-73), began in April and failed to result in a settlement prior to the contract’s October 1 expiration. As outlined in the final proposal presented to the Union on September 25, the contract expiration means that salary and benefits for musicians will be suspended until a new agreement can be negotiated.
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“We have great respect for our musicians’ talents, and today is a difficult day,” said MOA Board Chair Jon Campbell. “Our organization, however, cannot keep performing on borrowed time. The Orchestral Association honored the musicians’ 2007 contract even though, in the midst of the recession, it placed unsustainable pressure on our endowment. We cannot continue on this course, and our Board is united in the belief that, in order to protect the Minnesota Orchestra for the long term, we must address our financial challenges now, rather than push them forward and allow them to multiply.”
Of course for fans such appeals may be lost. As with the recent teacher’s strike in Chicago, and near strike of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, there are many in the general public who are weary of seeing such things go down, regardless of which side instigates it. When such things happen, a public good is lost, and the ultimate loser can easily be seen – in the end – as those who are paying for the good of service to be provided.
But that won’t stop these things from continuing to happen, as long as one side feels grieved to the point of refusing to provide their good or service. Thus far, the MN Orchestra’s management has rejected musician proposals for arbitration and for allowing the musicians to play during negotiations. On their side, the musicians have rejected a management offer that would have cut salaries an average of 34 percent, lowering the current annual average from $135,000 down to $89,000. They rallied outside Orchestra Hall Monday and issued a statement renewing their call for an independent analysis of the orchestra’s finances.
From the public’s point of view, it may be difficult for the average American to sympathize with the musicians, given the general average annual income is less than half of what the musicians’ would be cut to. Of course, any musician would point out the years of schooling, training, and debt that professional musicians almost certainly incur to get to that point. Still, this is a numbers game.
We can only hope that the MN Orchestra lockout will be resolved in short order. But if it ends as the Atlanta Symphony’s did (see last Friday’s Daily Bow for more details) I fear we may only be adding more fuel to the national fire.
On the bright side, at least the Saint-Paul Chamber Orchestra has agreed to “talk and play,” keeping the music going at a time when many of us need to hear it.
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