Klarinet Archive - Posting 001173.txt from 2000/10

From: "David B. Niethamer" <dnietham@-----.edu>
Subj: Re: [kl] Florida Philharmonic
Date: Mon, 23 Oct 2000 21:48:31 -0400

on 10/23/00 5:27 PM, Christopher Hill wrote:

>Does anyone have any news on what is happening with the Florida
>Philharmonic. The last I heard, they were going on strike, and the
>orchestra was thinking of folding and declaring bankruptcy in response.

see below, forwarded from the Orchestralist
*******************************************

News Monday, October 23
Philharmonic season to return; strike ends

By Charles Passy, Palm Beach Post Staff Writer
Monday, October 23, 2000

Strike up the band: After a bitter four-week walkout, the Florida
Philharmonic's 84 musicians are going back to making music.

That was the word late Sunday night, after the players voted again on a
five-year contract proposal -- with a raise of nearly 30 percent -- that
they
had essentially rejected twice before. The difference this time was that
the
decision followed a stark ultimatum from management on Saturday: Approve
the
deal, said the orchestra's governing council -- which had already
announced
it was canceling the 2000-01 season -- or it will dissolve the
institution
altogether.

The result was that the players -- some with joy, others with regret --
accepted the proposal to return to work. As of Sunday evening,
philharmonic
management had not announced when the first concerts would take place,
but it
was clear the season was being "uncanceled."

"I think this carload is happy," said cellist Iris van Eck, speaking by a
cellular phone as she traveled home from the meeting with a group of her
colleagues. Van Eck added jokingly that "now we can all eat," noting that
the
tense buildup to the meeting left many musicians sick to their stomachs.

But other players spoke with somberness about having been forced to agree
to
the deal. Although the final vote was not released to the press, it was
obvious there were many on the other side of the fence.

"If you had been there, you would have seen a tremendous number of people
crying -- and the tears were not happy tears, they were sad tears," said
Andrew Lewinter, a philharmonic hornist now on sabbatical who served as
one
of the chief negotiators.

The problem was not the salary proposal, which came close to matching the
players' original 32 percent request. Nor was it even a hotly contested
clause management threw into the mix this week involving control of a
peer-review committee that has the power to dismiss unqualified
musicians.

Rather, the issue seemed to be pride. When the musicians announced this
weekend they were willing to accept the financial terms of the proposal
but
wanted to work on some clauses, including the one about the peer-review
committee, after they returned to work, they expected management to
agree. To
bolster their case, they agreed to let the matter go to an arbitrator.

But management remained firm that they accept the entire package, saying
they
were not proposing a "cafeteria deal." The heavy-handed approach struck a
raw
nerve in much of the orchestra, especially for a group that said it often
felt victimized by its own music director, James Judd.

Those comments continued even after the conductor announced he was
forgoing
his $250,000 salary this year so that management could increase the final
proposed pay hike from 22.8 to nearly 30 percent.

"It's never been about money," said Leonard Leibowitz, the attorney
representing the musicians. He added that the orchestra's governing
council,
of which Judd is a member, needs "at some point to get some respect for
this
orchestra. They obviously don't have it now."

Judd could not be reached for comment Sunday night, but Michael Stein,
the
head of the philharmonic's Palm Beach board and a member of the governing
council, acknowledged that both management and musicians have a tough
road
ahead.

The strike revealed an orchestra that was intensely divided, which will
make
it that much more difficult for the cash-strapped philharmonic to raise
money. The orchestra has a deficit of $2.5 million,

"It remains to be seen whether this community will support the
orchestra,"
Stein said.

At the very least, however, the philharmonic, which is planning a new
"Save
the Symphony" post-strike campaign, should see some support from the
cultural
councils in the three counties it serves, namely Palm Beach, Broward and
Miami-Dade. Will Ray, president of the Palm Beach County Cultural
Council,
said he hoped the three councils would raise a combined $250,000 to match
Judd's salary contribution.

Many other issues await resolution in the wake of the strike. For
starters,
management must figure out where -- and when -- to commence the season,
and
how to compensate patrons who purchased tickets for the handful of
concerts
that were canceled.

The orchestra must also see whether it can work out an agreement with the
Miami-based Florida Grand Opera, whom it regularly accompanies. When the
players rejected management's proposal Wednesday, the orchestra was
forced to
cancel its $450,000 contract with the opera. The opera went with another
promoter, Delray Beach-based Sunset Entertainment.

Joseph Ferrer, Sunset's head, said he wasn't inclined to walk away from
the
contract, especially after some cultural officials accused him of being a
profiteer.

"They (the philharmonic) are not getting back the opera deal," he said.

David Niethamer
Principal Clarinet, Richmond Symphony
dnietham@-----.edu
http://members.aol.com/dbnclar1/

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