Breaking: Indy musicians win 9.3% pay rise
mainThe Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra has reached a swift, amicable three-year deal with its musicians, 14 months ahead of deadline.
The terms are:
– base musician pay will increase 9.3 percent over the course of the contract, from $70,000 in 2016-17 to $76,500 in 2019-20
– the orchestra will increase from 74 to 76 players.
How did they do that?
The Orchestra has reported three straight years of budget surpluses, with double digit growth in ticket sales and fundraising up over 50 percent from 2012-13. Last November, as part of a $100 million grant for the Indianapolis arts, Lilly Endowment made a $10 million gift to the ISO to help future financial stability.
Under music director Krzysztof Urbański, the Indy is really going places.
And where are the accolades for “management”? The musicians didn’t have car washes and bake sales – who got the funding? Musicians seem so quick to blame management but they sure don’t give any credit for the hard work being done to keep them alive and viable through fund raising, financial management, and marketing of the musicians’ products. To the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra Management – CONGRATULATIONS!
I know their Executive Director Gary Ginstling well and think very highly of him. Bravo to his role in this wonderful success story.