Klarinet Archive - Posting 001302.txt from 1998/04

From: Jonathan Cohler <cohler@-----.net>
Subj: Re: Pay analysis of Full-time Orchs
Date: Thu, 23 Apr 1998 19:28:24 -0400

Ed Lacy wrote:

>On Wed, 22 Apr 1998, Jonathan Cohler wrote:
>
>> It seems to me that a player in a major orchestra has a much more direct
>> and substantial effect on the quality of the product than does a single
>> employee of medium or large corporation.
>
>This is very perplexing. Do you, as music director of an orchestra, ever
>come to a point in the hiring process where you say, "If we hire this
>candidate, we will really sell a lot more tickets."? An orchestra is not
>100 individual employees, it is a single entity when it comes to affecting
>the income of the orchestra. The conductor, the general manager and the
>board all have more impact on the bottom line than does any one player, or
>probably all the players collectively.
>
>Ed Lacy
>el2@-----.edu

Interestesting question. In my case, with my orchestra, I would say most
definitely yes. I can point directly to our hiring of a new trumpet
player, and the whole trombone section and various other players, where
they have had a large, immediate and direct influence on the quality of the
orchestra. This in turn has resulted in numerous, glowingly positive
reviews in the major newspaper of the area, which in turn has been a major
factor in our ticket sales increasing by close to 100 percent over the last
two years.

In the case of a major orchestra, I would not be able to make as immediate
and direct a leap as we have in my small orchestra, but I would definitely
stick to my belief that a better quality product (coupled with good
marketing and sales) sells more. I would definitely want to allow all
comers to audition.

Certainly, as you say, the conductor and the board have more impact on the
bottom line than any one player. But collectively, over time, it is the
orchestra quality that will drive everything else.

Furthermore, a single player doesn't need to have that much effect on the
bottom line in order for it to be worthwhile to audition more players. As
we said in the previous message, it may be that only an additional $3,500
is needed to justify the auditioning of 200 more candidates!

------------------
Jonathan Cohler
cohler@-----.net

In the case of a major professional orchestra I would

   
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