A Fight for an Orchestra's Future

By Alexander Billet

Society of Cinema and Arts 
October 20, 2010
http://www.sociarts.com/content/fight-orchestras-future

Detroit. The one-time home of John Lee Hooker, of Berry
Gordy, the Supremes and Hitsville USA. The industrial mecca
that helped give rise to the MC5, P-Funk and house music.
Seminal hip-hop groups like Slum Village have emerged from
the city, and Eminem's continued connections merely cement
the link. It's undeniable that without the Motor City, music
in America would sound nothing like it does today.

Lately, though, that legacy seems to be overshadowed by some
depressing imagery: shuttered auto plants, foreclosed homes
and block upon block of urban decay. It might be easy to
overlook that, in the midst of so much blight, Detroit has
long been home to one of the country's premier orchestras.
For over a hundred years, the Detroit Symphony Orchestra has
been a key part of the city's makeup; its annual concert
series is viewed by almost half a million people every year,
it has toured the world, garnering praise and awards along
the way. It is, as one member of the orchestra says, "a
cultural gem."

All the more reason to defend it says cellist Haden McKay:
"For better or for worse, around the world what people know
Detroit for are decay, social problems, economic problems.
The Detroit Symphony, for many decades, has been one thing
that carries the name of Detroit around the world in a very
positive connection. Whether we're on tour or whether our CD
is being played on the radio in Asia or Europe, this is one
time when you can hear the name Detroit in a positive
connection. You can't put a price tag on that."

Which is why on October 4th, McKay and the rest of the
orchestra walked out. The DSO has canceled all orchestral
performances through November 7th, including its season
opener. World renowned violinist Sarah Chang, who was
scheduled for a recital on October 11th, also canceled under
public pressure.

The orchestra members, represented by the American Federation
of Musicians Local 5, haven't been unreasonable. On the
contrary, the DSO board of directors have offered a contract
stunning in its draconian demands. A 33% pay cut for current
musicians, a 42% cut for new hires, the elimination of tenure
and drastic restructuring of work rules to force musicians to
perform well past regular concerts. Even for the "new normal"
of the Great Recession, that's deep.

For their part, the musicians' counteroffer was an already
substantial 22%. Management wouldn't budge though. In late
September, negotiations broke down. And the strike--having
already been authorized by the musicians in August--began a
few days later. There have been no announcements of a return
to the negotiating table.

Currently, veteran musicians make approximately $104,000 per
year. Management's proposal would slash that figure down to
$77,000, and the elimination of tenure puts a big question
mark over whether the musicians would ever be able to get
back to their former salary. DSO Chief Executive and
President Anne Parsons has pointed to the administrative cut-
backs that the staff and others have had to make in recent
years. What she hasn't been as public about is her own yearly
income.

What's at stake isn't just the musicians' ability to make a
living, though. Management's intransigence puts the
orchestra's very integrity on the chopping block. Orchestral
musicians are well-known for spending years honing their
craft, often sacrificing untold sums for sake of their
training. The DSO's reputation and ability to offer a
competitive salary has allowed them to attract some world-
class talent. Management's proposals make that no longer
feasible.

"It's a very simple line to draw," says McKay. "We're
competing in an international and national talent pool for
top players. We can pay a little bit less than the other ones
because once people come they love the quality of the
orchestra, they tend to put down roots and they stay. To get
them there in the first place, though, you have to offer at
least a competitive package! If we go down the way that
management wants us to go down, we're not going to be able to
offer that. What we've seen these past couple years has been
people leaving for other jobs. They've seen the writing on
the wall and sensed that management was going to go after
us."

In short, what management is offering is an orchestra
destined for a decline toward a third-rate existence. If
Parsons and the rest have their way, then it won't just be
the musicians who are deprived, but the access of Detroit
residents to world-class art and the community's ability to
take pride in their orchestra.

Perhaps this is why public support for the strike has been
broad. This past summer, well before negotiations began, the
orchestra began reaching out to the community and explaining
their position. "A lot of people in the public are saying
that this doesn't sound right," McKay recalls. "When we're
picketing a lot of the unions come down, whether it's the
Teamsters, the UAW, they'll show up because they see us very
much as fellow workers."

That's not to say this picket isn't unique. Pictures and
photos show the musicians walking the line in full coat-and-
tails; french horns held aloft right alongside placards
reading "DSO Unfair."

But the musicians have also sought to use their own art as a
platform for their cause. As in previous strikes, the
orchestra has gone forward with their scheduled season--just
not under the sanction of management. The musicians' website
features a section for purchasing tickets to concerts not in
their normal home of the Max M. Fisher Music Center, but in
the nearby communities of Bloomfield Hills and Grosse Pointe.
Proceeds from the concerts will go to benefit the strikers'
contingency fund.

Importantly, their Bloomfield Hills show will also feature
about a dozen members of symphony orchestra of Cleveland, who
went on strike for one day this past January. Indeed, the
strike seems to have captured the attention of symphonies
from around the country.

McKay is straightforward in why this is the case: "If they
can make a major orchestra take this kind of pay-cut, if they
can open that door in Detroit, then you can be sure that when
they go to the negotiating table in Baltimore or Dallas or
Philadelphia or Denver they're going to hear the same
demands."

And therein lies the reason this fight is important. The
economic crisis and the onslaught it's provoked from
employers have already taken a toll on our homes, our jobs,
and our livelihoods. It's no surprise that our access to art
and music should be in the crosshairs too. If we don't defend
it, then it won't be sticking around either.

[Alexander Billet, a music journalist and activist living in
Chicago, runs the website Rebel Frequencies (
http://rebelfrequencies.blogspot.com) and writes a column of
the same name for the Society of Cinema and Arts.  He has
also appeared in Z Magazine, New Politics,
SocialistWorker.org, and PopMatters.com. He can be reached at
[log in to unmask] ]

_____________________________________________

Portside aims to provide material of interest
to people on the left that will help them to
interpret the world and to change it.

Submit via email: [log in to unmask]
Submit via the Web: portside.org/submit
Frequently asked questions: portside.org/faq
Subscribe: portside.org/subscribe
Unsubscribe: portside.org/unsubscribe
Account assistance: portside.org/contact
Search the archives: portside.org/archive