"While musicians' pay may be the target now, cuts just buy time. An enduring turnaround hinges on restoring audience and donor enthusiasm. How hard are orchestra leaders working to sell tickets and raise money? Are they hiring smart consultants? Are they really making a passionate civic argument on behalf of the art form? Are board members sufficiently emotional about the fate of orchestras they steward to make sufficiently generous donations?"
http://articles.philly.com/2012-10-02/news/34219073_1_cleveland-orchestra-chamber-music-concerts-musicians
I just read the same article - very interesting:
ReplyDelete"It's not at all clear at the end of this shaking out how many U.S. orchestral musicians will be able to make a living in the trade. Atlanta's fading from full-time status leaves 17 US orchestras out of hundreds with 52-week seasons, according to the League of American Orchestras ... What will it say about a country of 313 million if it can't find a way for a little more than 2,000 musicians to make enough money to exist without moonlighting? The free-market system may or may not be wise, but it is so far deaf to this question." Indeed.