Message from the President of the Rio de Janeiro Musicians’ Union at 2ª FIM International Orchestra Conference (IOC)

by Antonio J Augusto on Monday, 07 March 2011 at 17:13

Last year, the Brazilian Symphony Orchestra celebrated 70 years of activities. There were over 100 concerts to an estimated public of 190 000 people, according to the institution itself. Also a significant increase in the budget of the orchestra was reported, with funds coming from public policy sponsored by the federal government.

What could indicate a time of reward to the musicians of the orchestra, which for years received low wages, facing the worst working conditions and sacrificed much of his personal life in favor of this institution had become a worldly unprecedented drama. Only two days after the start of their collective holidays – traditionally in January in Brazil – were surprised by a statement informing that all OSB musicians would be subject to a “performance evaluation” provided with no discretion and without any discussion with the orchestral body or its leaders. Following this statement, the orchestra management announced that the orchestra would have their activities suspended until the month of July, and the concerts of the season in March, April, May and June would be conducted by the Brazilian Youth Symphony. At the same time they announced competitions for posts to be held in London, New York and finally in Rio de Janeiro.

It was thus clarified that the project will lead to mass dismissals, leading to the absurd situation of changing an entire orchestra to meet the demand of a single person, maestro Roberto Minczuk. For some time the orchestra and its conductor have not been speaking the same language, especially after the dismissal of 14 musicians on the eve of Christmas, in 2006, as well as his attempts to dismiss older musicians and those who opposed his leadership .

At the same time, admonitions are sent by the orchestra management warning that the absence to procedure will lead to a severe punishment and even the interruption of the work contract. Despite all this embarrassment, 56 of the 82 musicians who make up the orchestral body, meeting in Assembly decided not to undertake this “performance evaluation”, in protest against disrespect, arrogance and lack of dialogue that are being submitted.

Thus, we ask your support against this violence which the musicians from the most traditional orchestra in Brazil are undergoing, preventing that the most basic human rights – the right to work – is not usurped and that those responsible for this abnormality are properly accountable.

The Rumanian soprano Angela Gheorgiu has pulled out of the Met yet again. Last season she scrubbed Carmen, muttering about problems in her marriage to – the equally problematic – Roberto Alagna. This season, she’s pulled on Don Carlo – not right for her voice – and Roméo et Juliette (not feeling well). She has also announced she won’t do Faust next season.

Lady Geo-Geo is one of the great drama queens of the opera stage. She has complained in the past of being misunderstood. To the Met, she is making herself perfectly clear. She just doesn’t like the guys in charge. Get used to it.
I’d better see if she’ll do a Lebrecht Interview this summer.

                                                        photo: nobelpeaceprize.org

The Rumanian soprano Angela Gheorgiu has pulled out of the Met yet again. Last season she scrubbed Carmen, muttering about problems in her marriage to – the equally problematic – Roberto Alagna. This season, she’s pulled on Don Carlo – not right for her voice – and Roméo et Juliette (not feeling well). She has also announced she won’t do Faust next season.

Lady Geo-Geo is one of the great drama queens of the opera stage. She has complained in the past of being misunderstood. To the Met, she is making herself perfectly clear. She just doesn’t like the guys in charge. Get used to it.
I’d better see if she’ll do a Lebrecht Interview this summer.

                                                        photo: nobelpeaceprize.org

Isabelle Faust, the German violinist who has been named as one of the foreign musicians in the contentious Brazil Symphony Orchestra auditions, has informed me through her agent that she will not audition musicians or serve or serve on any jury while she is in Rio. She is contracted to perform Beethoven’s violin concerto on May 11, and that’s it. Her sole purpose there is to play the violin.

Her agent is seeking clarification from the orchestra’s management as to how she became linked with the process, which has aroused mounting Facebook protests. 
‘We are investigating, as a matter of urgency, how it has come about that her name appears to have become linked to this proposed action and, when we have more information, will let you know,’ said agents Hazard Chase Ltd.

Musicians will be greatly relieved to learn that this fine musician has nothing to do with the unpleasant affair. Here’s her latest release, the Brahms concerto with the Mahler Chamber Orchestra and Daniel Harding.


Isabelle Faust, the German violinist who has been named as one of the foreign musicians in the contentious Brazil Symphony Orchestra auditions, has informed me through her agent that she will not audition musicians or serve or serve on any jury while she is in Rio. She is contracted to perform Beethoven’s violin concerto on May 11, and that’s it. Her sole purpose there is to play the violin.

Her agent is seeking clarification from the orchestra’s management as to how she became linked with the process, which has aroused mounting Facebook protests. 
‘We are investigating, as a matter of urgency, how it has come about that her name appears to have become linked to this proposed action and, when we have more information, will let you know,’ said agents Hazard Chase Ltd.

Musicians will be greatly relieved to learn that this fine musician has nothing to do with the unpleasant affair. Here’s her latest release, the Brahms concerto with the Mahler Chamber Orchestra and Daniel Harding.


Among the many things you can do in Salzburg between one opera and the next marzipan ball is visit the state-licensed prostitutes on the street where Mozart was born – just a few minutes’ stroll from where ‘Silent Night’ was first heard.

I offer this information from an official Salzburg tour site which was brought to my attention by artists who are being offered accommodation on the same lane.
Now prostitution may be an older profession than music and no-one would ever confuse one for the other. But it does seem callous, even by Austrian standards, to be selling both services off the same site and without the faintest wink of irony.
The sex workers, we are informed, ‘have little red lanterns in front of their main entrance’. I guess opera singers don’t.
Here’s the Visit Salzburg site. 
And here’s its post-Mozart usp.
wikipedia, GFDL

Among the many things you can do in Salzburg between one opera and the next marzipan ball is visit the state-licensed prostitutes on the street where Mozart was born – just a few minutes’ stroll from where ‘Silent Night’ was first heard.

I offer this information from an official Salzburg tour site which was brought to my attention by artists who are being offered accommodation on the same lane.
Now prostitution may be an older profession than music and no-one would ever confuse one for the other. But it does seem callous, even by Austrian standards, to be selling both services off the same site and without the faintest wink of irony.
The sex workers, we are informed, ‘have little red lanterns in front of their main entrance’. I guess opera singers don’t.
Here’s the Visit Salzburg site. 
And here’s its post-Mozart usp.
wikipedia, GFDL

Musicians in many countries are now blacking out their Facebook pictures in support of players in the Brazil Symphony Orchestra, who are being made to reaudition for their own jobs. Pressure is also being put on five foreign judges not to participate in the audition process.

Among those leading the resistance is Ole Bohn, concertmaster of Norway’s national orchestra, and Alex Klein, former principal oboe of  the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. There are also indications that the Brazil SO music director Roberto Minczuk may face a musicians’ boycott if he attempts to conduct abroad.
Protests continue to mount and discussions are simmering across instrumental chat sites and message boards. Further progress will be reported first here.
Elsewhere in Rio, the Guardian reports (below), it’s carnival as usual.

Musicians in many countries are now blacking out their Facebook pictures in support of players in the Brazil Symphony Orchestra, who are being made to reaudition for their own jobs. Pressure is also being put on five foreign judges not to participate in the audition process.

Among those leading the resistance is Ole Bohn, concertmaster of Norway’s national orchestra, and Alex Klein, former principal oboe of  the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. There are also indications that the Brazil SO music director Roberto Minczuk may face a musicians’ boycott if he attempts to conduct abroad.
Protests continue to mount and discussions are simmering across instrumental chat sites and message boards. Further progress will be reported first here.
Elsewhere in Rio, the Guardian reports (below), it’s carnival as usual.

The five foreign musicians who are being flown into Rio to re-audition members of the Brazil Symphony Orchestra for their jobs – provoking widespread Facebook protests – have been named in an open letter that appeals to them to stay away.

The judges are

Ms. Rebecca Young, viola, New York Philharmonic

Ms. Isabelle Faust, violin, soloist

Mr. Blair Bollinger, trombone, Philadelphia Orchestra

Mr. Michael Faust, flute, Cologne Radio Orchestra

Mr. Ignacio Garcia, horn, Staatskapelle Berlin


The letter follows:

The (above-listed) musicians pay maximal attention.

You are being cheated by the management of the Brazilian Symphony Orchestra. The audition you will participate as jury members in Brazil is not a fair one. It is part of a repulsive plan of a sick management in order to promote a blood bath among orchestral musicians here in Brazil.

The audition is not for new members. You are coming to Brazil to listen exclusively to musicians that will have to re-audition to their own orchestra in order to, may be, keep their jobs. Many of these colleagues belong to this orchestra since more than 30 years and are being humiliated by this audition.

Please don’t participate on such a violence. This management, we know, are fooling you into believing that they want to make a better orchestra and to “modernize” orchestral life in Brazil.

This is not true. They are destroying everything the musicians conquered in decades of hard work and negociation. They are trying to impose a new work agreement, that will make slaves out of the musicians.

They are using you to make all this. This is by far the worst risk orchestral musicians are facing in Brazil in all times.

It is not modern, it has nothing to do with quality or with the guarantee of an orchestral future in Brazil. These people are bad managers and even worst artistic directors. They are trying to initiate an orchestral dictatorship here and cents of musicians of all Brazilian orchestras are mobilized in order to support the colleagues of the Brazilian Symphony Orchestra against the violences they are suffering.

Please don’t be unfair with these people. The stories the managem
ent are telling you are lies
.

Refuse to take part on something that will be part of the history as one of the most repulsive violences musicians faced in all times.

Eduardo Monteiro

The five foreign musicians who are being flown into Rio to re-audition members of the Brazil Symphony Orchestra for their jobs – provoking widespread Facebook protests – have been named in an open letter that appeals to them to stay away.

The judges are

Ms. Rebecca Young, viola, New York Philharmonic

Ms. Isabelle Faust, violin, soloist

Mr. Blair Bollinger, trombone, Philadelphia Orchestra

Mr. Michael Faust, flute, Cologne Radio Orchestra

Mr. Ignacio Garcia, horn, Staatskapelle Berlin


The letter follows:

The (above-listed) musicians pay maximal attention.

You are being cheated by the management of the Brazilian Symphony Orchestra. The audition you will participate as jury members in Brazil is not a fair one. It is part of a repulsive plan of a sick management in order to promote a blood bath among orchestral musicians here in Brazil.

The audition is not for new members. You are coming to Brazil to listen exclusively to musicians that will have to re-audition to their own orchestra in order to, may be, keep their jobs. Many of these colleagues belong to this orchestra since more than 30 years and are being humiliated by this audition.

Please don’t participate on such a violence. This management, we know, are fooling you into believing that they want to make a better orchestra and to “modernize” orchestral life in Brazil.

This is not true. They are destroying everything the musicians conquered in decades of hard work and negociation. They are trying to impose a new work agreement, that will make slaves out of the musicians.

They are using you to make all this. This is by far the worst risk orchestral musicians are facing in Brazil in all times.

It is not modern, it has nothing to do with quality or with the guarantee of an orchestral future in Brazil. These people are bad managers and even worst artistic directors. They are trying to initiate an orchestral dictatorship here and cents of musicians of all Brazilian orchestras are mobilized in order to support the colleagues of the Brazilian Symphony Orchestra against the violences they are suffering.

Please don’t be unfair with these people. The stories the managem
ent are telling you are lies
.

Refuse to take part on something that will be part of the history as one of the most repulsive violences musicians faced in all times.

Eduardo Monteiro

A row over re-audition procedures at the Brazil Symphony Orchestra has prompted many local musicians and overseas colleagues to black out their facebook photos in protest.

The points at issue are laid out in a letter (below) from the former Chicago Symphony oboist Alex Klein to the music director, Roberto Minczuk. They are mostly internal and occupational, of no wider interest beyond the working conditions of musicians in Brazil – although some comments on my facebook page from musicians in other countries indicate levels of intense solidarity and condemnation of the re-auditioning process.
photo: Juliana Coutinho
But the fact that the musicians are using facebook as their medium of protest gives the matter wider attention and ensures that the orchestra management cannot ride roughshod over the dissenters. It could signal a new phase in musical negotiation.
For blacked faces check, e.g., home pages of Juliana Bravim, Victor Astorga and more.
——————-

Open letter to the Music Director of the Brazilian Symphony Orchestra, Roberto Minczuk.


Dear Roberto,

 

I write in an open letter format to support your intention to renew the Brazilian Symphony Orchestra, OSB, and establish a higher artistic level. The OSB used to be a leader among Brazilian orchestras, but thanks to your work and leadership during these past years as well as the dedication of the musicians who kept the orchestra alive for so many difficult years, we see that the orchestra is now receiving its deserved high recognition.

 

However, I beg you to reconsider the strategy of imposing internal auditions to the entire orchestra, or even to a single musician. This strategy has been used before in Brazil, at OSESP, leaving scars on the music market up to this day that affect musicians and the conductor himself. At that time, however, the OSESP internal auditions brought in judges from outside the organization, reducing or eliminating the perception that non-artistic standards – that is, a personal preference of the conductor – would be used in the process of choosing musicians.

 

To justify these auditions, much is said about the need to raise the level of our orchestras to international standards. Ironically, there is no precedent of great international orchestras going through internal auditions to reach that level. Instead, the major orchestras in the world reached a high plateau after the onset of labor movements that gave support to the musicians, giving them job security and reasonable working conditions that foster this high standard.

 

The Berlin Philharmonic began its journey as a significant leader among orchestras of the twentieth century after a movement in 1882 when 54 musicians complained about working conditions and formed a new group, leaving behind their conductor. And Chicago became a leading international orchestra after the departure of Fritz Reiner and the formation of its musician’s committee which defended the labor rights of its members. In fact, Chicago’s first int
ernational tour was only in
1971, eight years after the departure of Reiner, a period in which the Musician’s Committee established the foundations for better working conditions.

 

Against this historical movement you cannot fight. The days of the “Godfather” in factories and industries is now long gone. Today, modern enterprises value the feedback within the firm, with “bosses” and “employees” in constant two-way communication toward a better quality product. Neither Embraer nor Petrobrás order the re-interviewing of all its engineers. This is the secret of the success of large companies as well as major international orchestras. The election of internal auditions goes in the opposite direction to these modern ideas, and makes the OSB under your leadership look at the year 1950 as an example for the future. You do not deserve this comparison, Roberto, and you need to change the course of this discussion.

 

The auditions have other negative consequences. They create a work environment of “us against them” where the first possible opportunity is used to score points against the other party, generating distrust, unnecessary friction, and none of that is commensurate with good music, where harmony should reign, mutual respect, artistic cohesion, and that great moment where the orchestral conductor and orchestra are “one”, and form a magical partnership. A “partnership”, however, indicates a horizontal working strategy, side by side, between conductor and musicians. And not something vertical where the maestro is on top and his decisions are untouchable. The respect musicians must have for a conductor is not really different from that which an engineer has for the administration at Embraer or Petrobras, and it depends on a two-way street where the leadership “makes sense” for the highly trained technicians who assemble the company’s product. If, from the point of view of musicians the leadership of the conductor “makes no sense”, this musician will not produce his best work, unless the desired product is merely that of 100 musicians playing together. But looking at your career, Roberto, you know how to achieve more, and you deserve more than that. Perhaps other conductors settle for less, just as well as some companies accept a lower standard. But for a top-notch institution, we demand the highest quality in everything we do, on all fronts.

 

It is also wrong, therefore, for musicians to demand the immediate dismissal of a conductor. You have a 6-year contract, and you should have the right to carry it through without interference or internal strife against you. Shouldn’t you also lead by example and give the musicians their own permanence without the presence of internal strife that threatens their job security and livelihood? Wouldn’t it make more sense to ensure the reasonable job security for all – musicians and conductors as contracted – leaving them free to create music without wasting time and resources, and the wear-and-tear of internal auditions and dismissals?

 

Mind you, Roberto, your situation is quite different from Neshling’s when he did the auditions at OSESP in the 90’s. You conduct the world’s finest orchestras, Philadelphia, New York Phil, and have an important position in Calgary. All of these modern orchestras have “horizontal” agreements with their musicians. You need not be equal to Neshling to uphold your reputation as a great orchestral leader in Brazil, and do not need to use techniques which are discredited internationally to command respect and discipline from your orchestra. A wrong choice now could cause complications and raise suspicions in your reputation abroad. You do not deserve any of this after devoting so much to your career, and we need you in Brazil as a modern leader.

 

The OSB is an excellent orchestra, and includes many of the best orchestral musicians in Brazil. The institution itself owes them a big thank you for keeping this orchestra alive through many years of labor conditions that fell way below expectations. If there are musicians who no longer keep up with the work demands, maybe you can bring to OSB the separation principles already existing in Calgary and other foreign orchestras that you have already conducted. A musician facing dismissal deserves to know the reasons for his impending termination, and a real chance to offer improvements. If the termination is still desired, the musician deserves to defend his case through the Musician’s Committee, so as to prevent non-artistic reasons from permeating the decision to fire him. After that, if the dismissal is truly inevitable, then please give the musician some mercy and the dignity of a proper separation, with a round of applause, a certificate of appreciation, at least some recognition that his days in OSB were of value, for which the institution thanks him. Please consider the human being inside this musician because this message will then be clear to those who are remaining in the orchestra, that it appreciates those who actually produce its sound.

 

These musicians have families, Roberto. They have bills to pay. The path to the desired major renovation of an orchestra is not through the removal of musicians, but by encouraging them to produce the best music they ever played, nurturing their self-esteem. I agree, however, that it is much more difficult for a conductor to work under these conditions, where 100 musicians have their own opinion and often opposed to that of the conductor. It is also much harder for Dilma Rouseff to govern our country than it is for Kim Il-Sung to govern his. For this is the system we live in: a democracy, where there is freedom of e

xpression. An orchestra or company is not a democracy, but we Brazilians are democratic people, it is in our veins. We breathe the dialogue and free expression in all our affairs, and it is up to the smart leader to know how to transform all this energy into productivity. The experience with democratic values has its price, especially for those who lead. We cannot cede to autocratic values simply because or whenever they suit us. We are Brazilians, we do not respond well to autocracy, and that’s a good thing. The orchestra, as a micro-society, also breathes democratic values even if the format of the organization is contractual and business-oriented.

 

I ask you, my dear friend, to reconsider and cancel those auditions. You are in an excellent position to bring to Brazil the standards of an international orchestra. Do it. Bring to your country the true standards that made a Philadelphia or Cleveland Orchestra what they are today. Raise the level of productivity of the musicians, but please do it with respect and dignity.

 

Let’s turn the page and close this chapter of layoffs, misunderstandings, biases, authoritarianism, and the inevitable lack of artistic consensus it brings. No more mass layoffs of musicians, and no more demands for the immediate departure of the conductor.

 

We count on you, Roberto, on the musician who you are and what you represent for the future, to lead the OSB without internal auditions, not because it’s easy but because it is difficult. But it is the right thing to do.

 

Best,

 

Alex Klein