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Re: pay cuts, etc

Author: DougR
Date: 2013-09-03 15:38

I don't think there's EVER been an orchestra in recent times that paid its way through ticket sales alone, so I think the audience dropoff, to the extent it exists, is only part of the story, and perhaps not as big a part as all this commentary might imply. Instead, I think a big part of the issue is faulty stewardship on the part of those who are supposed to keep symphonies alive and flourishing.

When you sign yourself up to serve on the board of a symphony, you sign yourself up to raise money. Period. When you pay some symphony president a comfortable six-figure salary (at least double what the best-compensated musicians in the orchestra make) you ought to expect them to step up, when times are hard, and REALLY raise money. And foster the kind of programming that brings people to the orchestra (or, increasingly, brings the orchestra to the people). That's all part of the job, always has been, and it's gotten tougher recently partly because of a dropoff in attendance (the exact statistics are debatable) but also because of a demonstrable dropoff in donations from those who ordinarily contribute, or help raise, money to justify their plummy Board seats.

If attendance drops off, you find a way to increase it. THAT'S YOUR JOB. If your administrative headcount has increased such that overhead has become unsustainable, you cut some heads. If you invested endowment money in questionable financial enterprises, you ought to be replaced, not given a raise and a seat at the bargaining table.

What you do NOT do, it seems to me, is start whining about how much the musicians make, not when you're sitting on a fat wallet yourself (as most of the major orchestra presidents and boards are) or spending extravagant amounts of money THAT IS NOT YOURS on questionable real estate transactions or hall renovations. What you do not do is to demoralize the orchestra that gives you your reason to be there in the first place, cut its quality, impair its ability to deliver the services to the community that you agreed to support, when you took the presidency or the board seat.

Not unless you simply don't have what it takes. Then, it seems to me, the FIRST thing you do is demand pay cuts from the orchestra.

I'm sorry, but in my view the real problem with 'symphonies in trouble' is a poor quality of stewardship, and a lack of work ethic on the part of the elites who are supposed to be nurturing these institutions. And it's the musicians, who show up and do their damn jobs and do them well, who end up getting the misery.

Unfortunately, there's no true accountability in the symphony racket, unless you're a musician. Then, it's ALWAYS your fault.

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rtmyth

2013-08-29 12:34