According to the New York Post page six – the wannabe Walter Winchell – America’s darling Renée Fleming is thinking of heading up the altar with her long-term companion, the corporate lawyer, Tim Jessell.
The Mayor of London’s office has opened a website where organisers can post cultural events, great and small, that are taking place around the 2012 Olympics.
I have posted both sides of the dispute that has prompted many musicians, in Brazil and around the world, to black out their Facebook pictures in protest against the enforced re-audition of musicians in the national orchestra.
Dear Mr. Lebrecht,
The OSB Musicians Commission considers important to make the following remarks about the letter by Maestro Minczuk, published on this blog:
1. The period of commotion we are experiencing for about two months, is the result of hasty disclosure of a document calling on all the orchestral body (including leaders) to participate in a misguided “performance evaluation”, limited to a single individual presentation of 30 minutes long. Undoubtedly, it has never been done during the 70 years of existence of the orchestra, not stated on the employment contracts of the OSB musicians and certainly not adopted in any of the major orchestras of the world, as it is usually exposed by Maestro Minczuk. This document, received by the musicians on January 6th, 2011 made no mention of any layoffs, but the strangeness of the call at the beginning of summer holiday as well as the uniqueness of the proposal caused great commotion among the musicians. This type of audition is usually applied in order to enter the orchestra, not as a “performance evaluation”.
2. The impression that the mass dismissal would occur was reinforced during the release of the 2011 season, about three weeks ago, when it was officially announced that all programming scheduled for March, April, May, June and July would be in charge of Brazilian Youth Symphony Orchestra, a music students ensemble, with no working contract with the OSB Foundation and which should actually be submitted to an educational program consistent with the goals of a real Youth Orchestra, and therefore, not able to replace the professional orchestra. If there is no intention to dismiss, what would justify this huge period without any schedule for the musicians of the professional OSB immediately after those auditions?
This impression of a massive dismissals, was also reinforced by the unexpectedly announcement of a Voluntary Retirement Plan, for which only three players signed up. A young musician who plays the English-horn in an exceptional manner, an oboist with extensive experience in international orchestras as the Berlin Philharmonic and Berlin Opera and a violinist wit
h over thirty years devoted
to OSB.
3. This salary 6500.00 U.S. refers to a few positions in the orchestra. The base salary will be 3529,00 U.S. , plus extras for concerts and total assignment of image and audio rights. With this “wage increase” the orchestra nearly doubles the number of functions, and compels all musicians to exclusivity in addition to removing the bonus for years of service earned by the musicians after tough negotiations.
4. The musicians certainly would agree to a well-structured program of “performance evaluation”, since it included the same criteria used in serious institutions, as demonstrated to the President of the OSB Foundation, Dr. Eleazar de Carvalho Filho, in a meeting with members of the OSB Musicians Commission, on February 12th, 2011. In this case, the evaluation would be subject necessarily to the analysis of the musician performance in the course of a given period (i.e. annual) and obligatorily subject to review by the sections principals and the Maestro. It could never be limited to a single individual presentation, which can be negatively influenced by uncountable factors.
5. Maestro Minczuk has been the Artistic Director and Principal Conductor of OSB for the last five and a half years. He had more than enough time to evaluate the members of the orchestra which he has worked with for hundreds of rehearsals and performances.
6. It is noteworthy that the “ritual” for admission to the orchestra is in its statutes and was always observed. He inferred in his letter that the musicians have been admitted in the orchestra without the necessary rite of the auditions. The personnel and accounting departments have the records of every musician’s admission and their history within the institution. However, there have never existed any official documents of the auditions with the notes of the judges. He did hire some musicians without auditioning them. He can veto any candidate.
7. We are convinced that the orchestra and its management would not be subject to the current constraint if the musicians had participated in the drafting of the evaluation program, a possibility predicted in the Statute of OSB Foundation.
Sincerely,
Luzer Machtyngier
President of the OSB Musicians Commission
No sooner had word broken yesterday of the contestants in Valery Gergiev’s new-look Tchaikovsky Competition this summer than low rumblings were heard from the cello section all over the world.
I have received the following letter from Roberto Minczuk, music director of the Brazilian Symphony Orchestra.
Dear Norman Lebrecht,
After hearing and reading many untruthful letters and messages mostly on the internet, it is very important to clarify some key facts concerning the Brazilian Symphony Orchestra and the present evaluation process.
First of all, the purpose of the evaluation is not to fire or dismiss anyone – nobody that participates in the auditions will be dismissed. As part of the deal to improve musicians’ working conditions, including raising the wages, the Board of OSB Foundation decided to go through an evaluation process. It is important to emphasize that Brazilian Symphony Orchestra Foundation is private and to support itself counts on the sponsorship of more than thirty private and public companies and institutions.
These evaluations will help fix a few old problems. There are, for instance, no written records for admissions for the orchestra prior to 2006. It is a known fact that often auditions were held in a very informal way and did not follow standards that guarantee fairness and exemption. They were not held behind the screens and the repertoire was over simplified in all positions. There are in the orchestra musicians who were admitted without any formal auditions even in key positions which generate much complain among the musicians themselves.
After being heard individually in the evaluations, musicians will be given feedback and will have the opportunity to show improvement. In addition, we are fully aware that musicians that have been playing in the group for more than twenty years might not be in the same shape of younger players. Even so, we know how much experienced musicians can contribute to the orchestra’s routine. The evaluation will be considered, as I personally wrote to all musicians, only one component part of the process of development of the orchestra.
We took special care that everybody had the opportunity to prepare themselves. Besides the regular vacation of the 41 days, the musicians where given another month of paid vacation to dedicate themselves only to preparing for the evaluation.
When I was first invited to become Brazilian Symphony Orchestra’s Artistic Director, five and a half years ago, the orchestra wasn’t fully organized in its internal structure and the Foundation’s total budget was around three million dollars. Musicians had a very low monthly salary of 1.200,00 to 1.800,00 US dollars that often was delayed up to six months. That situation appeared to me as the biggest challenge of my life, even greater than the one I had faced side by side with John Neschling in São Paulo (1997 – 2005), when we worked hard to restructure Osesp (São Paulo State Symphony Orchestra).
After last year’s season, when we celebrated Brazilian Symphony Orchestra’s seventieth anniversary, the general conditions had significantly changed for the better. In 2011, the annual budget is approximately of twenty million dollars, the deficit is settled and the salaries can reach up to 6.500,00 US
dollars (x 13) plus benefits
, accumulating a total of eight five thousand dollars yearly plus health insurance.
I hope I have clarified some of the misunderstanding and I would like you to feel free to contact me for any further information you might need.
Sincerely,
Roberto Minczuk
I have received the following letter from Roberto Minczuk, music director of the Brazilian Symphony Orchestra.
Dear Norman Lebrecht,
After hearing and reading many untruthful letters and messages mostly on the internet, it is very important to clarify some key facts concerning the Brazilian Symphony Orchestra and the present evaluation process.
First of all, the purpose of the evaluation is not to fire or dismiss anyone – nobody that participates in the auditions will be dismissed. As part of the deal to improve musicians’ working conditions, including raising the wages, the Board of OSB Foundation decided to go through an evaluation process. It is important to emphasize that Brazilian Symphony Orchestra Foundation is private and to support itself counts on the sponsorship of more than thirty private and public companies and institutions.
These evaluations will help fix a few old problems. There are, for instance, no written records for admissions for the orchestra prior to 2006. It is a known fact that often auditions were held in a very informal way and did not follow standards that guarantee fairness and exemption. They were not held behind the screens and the repertoire was over simplified in all positions. There are in the orchestra musicians who were admitted without any formal auditions even in key positions which generate much complain among the musicians themselves.
After being heard individually in the evaluations, musicians will be given feedback and will have the opportunity to show improvement. In addition, we are fully aware that musicians that have been playing in the group for more than twenty years might not be in the same shape of younger players. Even so, we know how much experienced musicians can contribute to the orchestra’s routine. The evaluation will be considered, as I personally wrote to all musicians, only one component part of the process of development of the orchestra.
We took special care that everybody had the opportunity to prepare themselves. Besides the regular vacation of the 41 days, the musicians where given another month of paid vacation to dedicate themselves only to preparing for the evaluation.
When I was first invited to become Brazilian Symphony Orchestra’s Artistic Director, five and a half years ago, the orchestra wasn’t fully organized in its internal structure and the Foundation’s total budget was around three million dollars. Musicians had a very low monthly salary of 1.200,00 to 1.800,00 US dollars that often was delayed up to six months. That situation appeared to me as the biggest challenge of my life, even greater than the one I had faced side by side with John Neschling in São Paulo (1997 – 2005), when we worked hard to restructure Osesp (São Paulo State Symphony Orchestra).
After last year’s season, when we celebrated Brazilian Symphony Orchestra’s seventieth anniversary, the general conditions had significantly changed for the better. In 2011, the annual budget is approximately of twenty million dollars, the deficit is settled and the salaries can reach up to 6.500,00 US
dollars (x 13) plus benefits
, accumulating a total of eight five thousand dollars yearly plus health insurance.
I hope I have clarified some of the misunderstanding and I would like you to feel free to contact me for any further information you might need.
Sincerely,
Roberto Minczuk
Valery Gergiev has announced the line-up for this summer’s Tchaikovsky Competition in Moscow, a event dogged in the past by Soviet corruption and, in more recent times, by mediocrity.
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XIV
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MOSCOW, The exceptional standard of the competitors – aspiring to a Among them are laureates of such competitions as the: PIANO They have performed with conductors such as Ashkenazy, “I was This view was reflected by David Geringas, who chaired Prize dates THE PIANO VIOLIN CELLO VOICE Male |
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For |
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The XIV International |
Valery Gergiev has announced the line-up for this summer’s Tchaikovsky Competition in Moscow, a event dogged in the past by Soviet corruption and, in more recent times, by mediocrity.
|
XIV
|
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MOSCOW, The exceptional standard of the competitors – aspiring to a Among them are laureates of such competitions as the: PIANO They have performed with conductors such as Ashkenazy, “I was This view was reflected by David Geringas, who chaired Prize dates THE PIANO VIOLIN CELLO VOICE Male |
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For |
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The XIV International |
The ascent of Gustavo Dudamel from the streets of Caracas to the heights of maestro fame has been both musical fairy-tale and a case of flawless image management. The fairy-tale continues, but the first blip has just appeared on his hitherto immaculate record.
The ascent of Gustavo Dudamel from the streets of Caracas to the heights of maestro fame has been both musical fairy-tale and a case of flawless image management. The fairy-tale continues, but the first blip has just appeared on his hitherto immaculate record.
A second of the foreign ‘experts’ called in to re-audition members of the Brazil Symphony Orchestra for their jobs has withdrawn from the process. The judge, who has not been named, was persuaded to step down by James Wilt, associate principal trumpet of the Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra, who has been rallying support for the embattled musicians.
Still working on the other one I contacted.
Good luck!
_________________
Jim Wilt
LA Philharmonic
Colburn School
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.
