Fort Wayne Philharmonic Musicians on Strike

[Three Valves]

Just presume “contributions accepted”

[bloke]

I think it would be quite amusing for orchestras on strike to play free concerts no conductor.

[tclements]

ROPA orchestras are really struggling these days. It was tough BEFORE COVID, now it's worse. Our society, which thinks nothing of paying Aaron Judge $40 mil per year, could not care LESS that artists (dancers, painters, non big movie actors), barely make a living wage. It's a sad reflection of where our country is culturally.

[bloke]

ROPA orchestras are really struggling these days. It was tough BEFORE COVID, now it's worse. Our society, which thinks nothing of paying Aaron Judge $40 mil per year, could not care LESS that artists (dancers, painters, non big movie actors), barely make a living wage. It's a sad reflection of where our country is culturally.

As I stated previously in this thread, Big 5 - and those that are really at the same level - are also receiving pay cuts and more than one. (reminder: my son-in-law - Pittsburgh)

The ROPA orchestras may well be an accurate generalization, but a few of them have come up with sugar daddies and sugar mamas, and aren't doing too badly, budget-wise.

I believe I need to make this point again:
Even when coffers are fat, the huge supply of competent and even remarkable players is prompting boards too seek out negotiators who are good at draconian pay cuts. The pay cuts are not because they are needed, but rather because they can.

This may seem mean, but there's not a single one of us who seeks out services such as air conditioning repair, plumbing services, and other such things who - when they find that there is a person or a company that offers equal services for lower prices - doesn't drop the place they were using like a hot potato and go to the lower-priced equally-good company or individual.

I could say more about this supply situation, but a handful of people would surely be triggered politically - even though what I would have to say is absolutely true, and I've said it to people who disagree with me politically who also absolutely agree that it's absolutely true.

[MikeMason]

I would opine bloke, that the service provided by me or you is not equal to the service provided by Gene, Carol, or the other top players, but, it may be equal enough for many patrons and for dramatically less money.

[bloke]

I would opine bloke, that the service provided by me or you is not equal to the service provided by Gene, Carol, or the other top players, but, it may be equal enough for many patrons and for dramatically less money.

You could go scab if you want to, but - for me - that would mean "living in a city, again" - a nonstarter.

[MikeMason]

Nah, I was just challenging your assertion of equal service for lower price. The equal part. I’m right where I need to be for my ability and commitment level. And while I do cash the checks, I don’t rely on the money to pay my bills. I’m not sure who originally said it, but concerning the reason to say yes to a gig : the money, the rep, or the “hang”. Need to be at least 2 of the 3 for me.

[bloke]

Nah, I was just challenging your assertion of equal service for lower price. The equal part. I’m right where I need to be for my ability and commitment level. And while I do cash the checks, I don’t rely on the money to pay my bills. I’m not sure who originally said it, but concerning the reason to say yes to a gig : the money, the rep, or the “hang”. Need to be at least 2 of the 3 for me.

As much as those people - and one of them is a good friend - are known to be extremely highly capable, I would put forth that there are some unknowns who are quietly equally capable and working towards employment or towards better paying employment... and geometrically more who perform on other instruments whereby there are far more employed positions.

Sitting in the backs of freeway philharmonics, I can't be the only person who has noticed that the gap between the sounds produced by six figure paying orchestras and four or five figure paying orchestras is quickly closing, and not a small dynamic - in play here - is conservatories and conservatory-level universities' music departments flooding the market with highly trained/highly capable classical musicians, rather than throttling this based on market demand. They do this - obviously - because there's nothing in place to throttle them, and because they are making money off of doing it. (My own daughter's oboe professor at Eastman limited his studio to four new members each year, though he had hundreds of applicants each year. I admired him for this, and would have done so had my own daughter been rejected.)

People who play music do so because they want to. Even people who scuffle - or whose abilities are somewhat limited - but mostly succeed still want to play music, and dedicate many hours to doing so gratis. This is the reason why superb musicians will play for as little as a hundred bucks a service or so, and yet go home and practice for 10 or 15 additional hours to properly execute each service for which they are paid.

Orchestra boards of directors know all of this, and the negotiators they hire certainly know this.

[ParLawGod]

Not taking any sides, but I imagine this is a stressful situation for everyone. Stressful for the musicians who put in countless hours of practice and preparation in service to the organization & community...and stressful for the organization that wants to do right by both the audience and musicians, but must keep the financial ship floating.

I have no answers...just want to give my best hopes that both sides can work together for a successful outcome.

[bloke]

Just to be clear, I'm not on a "side", other than the side hoping that this orchestra goes back to work.

I do tend to point out things which are true, which are not always pretty. As blunt as my last post may have seemed, it was throttled and I held back additional obvious truth.

[bloke]

Just to be clear, I'm not on a "side", other than the side hoping that this orchestra goes back to work.

I do tend to point out things which are true, which are not always pretty. As blunt as my last post may have seemed, it was throttled and I held back more obvious truth.

I was just making a general post (not in response to anyone else's post). Sorry :)

[Colby Fahrenbacher]

A few updates regarding the ongoing strike of the Fort Wayne Philharmonic:

Negotiations stalled on Monday after management failed to make an offer that would bring wages back to pre-pandemic levels, let alone account for inflation (recent or over the past two decades). More details can be found in this WBOI article, and elsewere.

Of note:
The Fort Wayne Philharmonic has been placed on the AFM's International Unfair List. This is the second time in three years. "In 2020, the Philharmonic was placed on the list after attempting to schedule concerts with traveling musicians, while Philharmonic musicians were furloughed due to the pandemic."


Former President of the Fort Wayne Philharmonic (1985-2005) recently weighed in on the current situation. He expressed his thoughts in an op-ed for the Journal Gazette. I have included his article here because it is behind a paywall, and I believe that his insight is highly valuable for all who are interested in the Philharmonic's success.


Board's missteps threaten Philharmonic's continued presence

"The staff and board of the Fort Wayne Philharmonic do not seem to believe in, or care about, the future of a professional symphony orchestra in this city. The current strike is the latest development in a decade of labor/management strife. In that time, the number of concerts has been cut in half by management.

The board made arguably reasonable cuts during the pandemic, but now they have no excuse. The veil has been raised on the board’s true goal: to reduce this once nationally esteemed orchestra to a shadow of its former self. The players are people with expensive degrees in musicianship, working under increasingly restrictive circumstances that make it virtually impossible to make ends meet. The 44 full-time players are earning between only $22,000 and $26,000 a year – less than what they were making in 2008. Let’s be clear: The Philharmonic is rich. Its ratio of endowment funds to operating budget is one of the most enviable in the country, with more than $25 million in the bank against a budget of, at most, $6 million in operating expenses. Even if the orchestra had a $500,000 annual budget deficit (and it doesn’t), it would take 50 years for the orchestra to go broke.

Management has been quoted as saying the players are asking for a 45% increase in wages over a three-year period, while management is offering an 11% increase. How much additional income would come from either of those percentage increases against a $22,000 per year salary?

The Massachusetts Institute of Technology says a person in Allen County with no children needs to earn $31,600 to make a “living wage.” A 45% pay increase on $22,000 would amount to $31,900. An 11% increase would amount to $24,420, $7,180
less than a “living wage.” The musicians are in the category of the “working poor.” But it gets worse. Gone are the Unplugged Series, Community Concerts, the Chamber Orchestra Series, many of the concerts throughout the northeast counties, half of the in-school ensemble concerts, and the Masterworks Series has been reduced from 10 to seven performances. That’s fewer Masterworks concerts than the orchestra performed in 1985.

For a town the size of Fort Wayne, a full-time orchestra usually means 44 players, which comprise a “chamber orchestra.” For works requiring a larger number (50 to 90), musicians are hired from throughout the region. This has been the case for
decades. Yet management hasn’t only reduced Masterworks concerts, which require these additional musicians, but it has eliminated most chamber orchestra concerts, which do not require much additional expense. The 44 full-time players are required, for their salaries, to perform a certain number of services (rehearsals or concerts). The services are paid for, according to the contract, whether they are scheduled or not.

Chamber orchestra concerts, therefore, requiring only the 44 or fewer players can be presented without added burden on the operating budget. In fact, between ticket sales and sponsorships, chamber orchestra concerts usually earn a profit. By eliminating chamber concerts, management has chosen to leave musician services unused, a waste of many tens of thousands of dollars and more. Players want to play. When they see these concerts eliminated, they feel not only underutilized, but also unappreciated and their services wasted.

Why do the management and board choose to victimize the musicians? Why don’t they care about making the most of the musician assets that are part of the budget? Either board members don’t understand the symphony business, nor really care
about music or art. Or maybe they are just lazy; it takes work to schedule, select music, and sell tickets and sponsorships. But that’s what the staff is for. We’ve already heard the excuse that the board and management are only trying to build a future for the orchestra, and the players refuse to listen.

Here’s the board’s vision:
1) No full-time position vacated by resignation or retirement will be filled;
2) Musicians will no longer have any control over their schedule; everything will be decided by management (contrary to the industry standard); being on call morning, noon and night, players will have little opportunity to make additional income
teaching or playing church and other performances; and
3) After decades of having an important role in the hiring and firing of musicians, these decisions will be left exclusively to the music director (a procedure unprecedented nationally).

Finally, it’s clear that management is ineffective at best. Marketing and public relations are virtually non-existent. The recent reduction of the Nutcracker orchestra from 48 to 40 players using a bastardized score reduction that had nothing to do with Tchaikovsky’s masterpiece showed disdain for the art form and for the audience and dancers of the Fort Wayne Ballet. The board’s clutch-to-its-breast treatment of the huge endowment reveals a group that wants to sit back and rest on its laurels. I applaud their having raised so much in the past few years, but they act as though the endowment, as it is now, must fund the orchestra till the end of time.

Rather, each generation that aspires to have a full-time professional orchestra must step forward and do its part. That’s what happened with endowment campaigns in 1988, 1996 and 2004. When did running an orchestra become a matter of funding only? A balanced budget is not an “artistic vision.” Only a powerful artistic vision will result in a balanced
budget.

If what the board really envisions is an amateur orchestra, then they should say so; but a survey conducted by the organization a few years ago showed that a majority of respondents want a full-time symphony orchestra.

I urge everyone who loves music and takes pride in its orchestra to contact the members of the board and urge them to right what has become a deplorable wrong."

Christopher Guerin was president of the Philharmonic from 1985 to 2005.


If you want to support the Fort Wayne Philharmonic, Take the former President's advice and send a letter to the following individuals:

Rick James
Chair, Fort Wayne Philharmonic Board of Directors
4901 Fuller Drive
Fort Wayne, Indiana 46835

Brittany Hall
President and CEO, Fort Wayne Philharmonic
4901 Fuller Drive
Fort Wayne, Indiana 46835


For those of you who have been performing for many years and personally witnessed the various periods of growth and decline for the symphony orchestras in this country (particularly those similarly sized to Fort Wayne), I encourage you to share your experiences with the board. How did the orchestra change? How did professional respect change? How did community involvement change? What opportunities was the orchestra no longer able to take advantage of?

Lastly, if all that we do is make broad generalizations about the current state of things with no action, then we have chosen nihilism and given up on influencing change. Every city, every orchestra, every administration is dealing with unique, localized circumstances. While the outcome may be influenced by broader national issues, it is not wholly determined by them. Failure is only guaranteed when we chose to do nothing.

Do something.

[Three Valves]

'The board made arguably reasonable cuts during the pandemic, but now they have no excuse. The veil has been raised on the board’s true goal..."

I've noticed A LOT of that going around.

[bloke]

'The board made arguably reasonable cuts during the pandemic, but now they have no excuse. The veil has been raised on the board’s true goal..."

I've noticed A LOT of that going around.

yes, but , elsewise (well, you know...)

[windshieldbug]

I've noticed A LOT of that going around.

In other local news, the Philly Pops isn’t even making an effort. They’re just going under.

[Mary Ann]

I think that a rebirth is going to have to happen; and it will have to be grassroots, with "new blood" in the administrative end of things. Obviously the old way is no longer working. Here, we still have a symphony but attendance at concerts is way down from 20 years ago. The audience has changed and what they want to hear has changed. Those of us who are pretty much "purely classical" are getting fewer and fewer. And yet we see stellar young people who are coming up (example, From The Top radio show) -- and I don't know where they are going to end up.

[bloke]

CEOs - arguably - are more important than music directors, because $40 and up tickets (as well as $500 and up donations) for watching something - that very few people know very much about - is a pretty hard sell.

Really good CEOs are paid quite a few million dollars a year. It's the rare orchestra CEO paid only about $100,000 to $XXX,XXX a year who is competent and actually does a good job. Maybe, it's even more rare when they advocate for the musicians.

[Breavdah]

Orchestra musician is sort of like being minor minor royalty: The pay isn't great but you are upper class. A good job for idle children of rich families.

[bloke]

[Three Valves]

Orchestra musician is sort of like being minor minor royalty: The pay isn't great but you are upper class. A good job for idle children of rich families.

Maybe you are thinking about wannabe student musicians with much more trust money than talent?