The Fabulous Philadelphians are on strike.
Friday night, a crowd of about 1,000 sat in Verizon Hall
waiting for the orchestra to appear for the scheduled start of the Opening
Night Gala.
But no Philadelphia Orchestra appeared on stage.
Unbeknownst to most in the audience, the 96 musicians and two librarians
belonging to American Federation of Musicians Local 77 had decided to go out on
strike about an hour before curtain time.
Finally, about 20 minutes after the scheduled start,
orchestra president Allison B. Vulgamore came out on stage to say that no labor
agreement was in place for "one of the world's greatest orchestras, if not
the greatest," and the performance would not happen.
Last-minute efforts to save the concert were launched
backstage. Both sides tried to hammer out an agreement even well after the 7
p.m. curtain time, but those talks failed.
When the entire audience had filed out, musicians came
out from backstage into the lobby of the Kimmel Center carrying picket signs.
Audience members applauded and cheered them, while several philanthropists and
members of local arts boards booed.
"Shame on you," shouted a couple of elderly
donors at musicians, who walked past them stony-faced.
"I'm disappointed — I think they could have chosen
another night," said one orchestra donor who declined to give her name.
Sarah Darrow of Center City, who had bought a last-minute
$20 conductors' circle ticket, was likewise disappointed, but philosophical.
"I assume that this great institution will go on and I'll hear them
another night," she said.
Negotiations earlier in the day over a new labor deal
—the first formal talks in more than two weeks — ended Friday afternoon with
musicians bitterly unhappy with the offer.
Friday night's gala was not scrapped, creating a strange
dissonance: revelers celebrating an organization now at war with itself. The
Philadelphia Orchestra Association's gala dinner for a crowd of about 550 in
black tie and gowns went on as planned in the Kimmel lobby.
Musicians picketed on Broad Street in a light rain.
The gala concert — one of the biggest fund-raisers of the
year — was to have featured conductor Yannick Nézet-Séguin leading the
orchestra in works by Bernstein, Gershwin, Ravel, and Respighi.
No new talks are scheduled. All of this weekend's
concerts have been canceled. Immediately hanging in the balance are two early
October concerts with conductor Simon Rattle scheduled for Philadelphia and
Carnegie Hall.
It is the orchestra's first strike since 1996, when
musicians were out for 64 days. Philadelphia's players found unfortunate
commiseration on the other side of the commonwealth, where another first-rate
orchestra, the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, also went on strike Friday.
Musicians here had been playing without a new contract
since the old pact's expiration Sept. 12, while both sides agreed to a
"play and talk" deal. The initial proposed deal offered players no
raises in the first three years, and 1 percent raises in each of two years
after that, with no commitment to restore the size of the ensemble to pre-bankruptcy
levels.
Players called management's initial offer
"regressive."
The last-minute pact both sides were arriving at on
Friday evening was a two-year deal, with a 2 percent raise in the first year.
Management proposed a 2 percent raise in the second year, and musicians wanted
3 percent. The difference in their positions ultimately came to a total of only
about $90,000 over the life of the contract, said Melvin S. Schwarzwald, the
musicians' Cleveland-based lawyer.
Philadelphia Orchestra Association vice president Ryan
Fleur did not dispute that amount, but said that when management would not
agree to the higher percentage raise, the musicians walked out.
"Things were close," said Fleur, but he said
that arriving at a framework still would have left the many parts of the labor
agreement to be worked out, including work rules, the question of adding more
players to the orchestra, and other details.
The strike comes at a time of frustration with the pace
of recovery since the orchestra emerged from bankruptcy in 2012.
Fund-raising has gone slower than expected, and management
still has not been able to close a $5 million gap in the annual budget. The
last contract was an unusual, stopgap deal, one year in duration, while arts
consultant Michael Kaiser completed a report examining some of the underlying
causes of the orchestra's financial troubles, while recommending some course
corrections. The orchestra's board has not approved Kaiser's plan, fueling
musicians' dismay.
Musicians say they are seeking to remain among the
top-paid in the country. The base minimum for players in the Boston Symphony
Orchestra, without seniority or other extra pay, will be $152,672 at the end of
this season. With no raise in Philadelphia, the minimum would be $128,544.
One backstage negotiation offer from management for a new
three-year contract would have brought the base pay to $135,000 a year by the
third year, the Association said in a statement.
"I believe in this incredible orchestra and I
believe in the power of this community to value it," said orchestra
principal hornist Jennifer Montone. "The musicians want to move forward
and be part of that. This is certainly a potentially exciting time."
In a Friday night email to ticket buyers, the Association
said it was "extremely hopeful that we can come to a swift agreement with
our musicians."
"This orchestra deserves to be saved," said
cellist Gloria de Pasquale as her colleagues cleaned out their lockers at
Verizon Hall and filed out of the stage door with boxes and suitcases in hand.
Source: Philly.com
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