To help me understand what could have led the ASO down this dark path, I began a bit of reading online. I would like to offer up three articles on Drew McManus's website, Adapstration, which may give us choristers a look inside the orchestral management model under which our orchestra may be operating, or in the least, informs it.
The first is a look at CEO compensation for American orchestras. Numbers which interest me are the ones that show CEO compensation for the ASO in the 2009-10 year when AV was still our President and CEO. Her compensation ranked below only a small handful, including that of the CEOs of Boston Symphony, LA Phil, and NY Phil. That's right, her compensation was higher than that of the CEOs of the Philadelphia Orchestra, Chicago Symphony, Cleveland Orchestra, and San Francisco Symphony. Was she deserving of that level of compensation when the orchestra was running a tremendous deficit? I would say no, but clearly our ASO board said yes.
The second article reveals that while under bankruptcy, the Philadelphia Orchestra Association (POA) offered AV a new contract of $450,000 with huge bonus possibilities and other perks, all while the POA was asking the musicians big cuts in salary and benefits. And, the classy way it was announced: via an email to the musicians 40 minutes after the press release was made public.
The last, but certainly not the least, reminds all of us that staffers in such organizations suffer as well. Drew's point is so true. He wrote that "At the very least, musicians have the means for acting on their displeasure over strategic and executive board decisions in the form of a collective bargaining agreement. That agreement also provides a degree of job protection when it comes to speaking out against perceived malfeasance."
There has been malfeasance, and not on the part of the musicians. Those in charge of our beloved orchestra have allowed incredible debt to accumulate, and now expect the music makers to pay for it. This is not just unfair. It is not right. I am striving to understand the other side, and the picture I am forming is not a pretty one. We need a new model, and it needs to be reformed from the highest levels.
I think your point is valid - that those in charge of the finances have remained on a path not conducive to continued growth while the musicians keep sawing away. (It's not just Atl, of course, but I have a stake in it, so Atl is what I am focused on.) Here's a question: are people responsible for this mess losing their jobs since they have allowed this condition to develop? Hmmm . . .
ReplyDeleteIf musicians did their jobs as negligently as the ASO Board and WAC, the orchestra would have cleaned house long ago. The difference in the level of job performance is staggering.
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