What began as a musicians strike is now turning into a full-scale lockout.
The following letter has been sent out to all employees, underlining the company’s intention to keep Heinz Hall open ‘for our patrons’. In order to do so, it may require us to hire replacement workers, either on a temporary or permanent basis, as will be determined by the business necessity that we face.
The letter was clearly written by a non-native English speaker.
Here’s the full letter, grammatical mistakes uncorrected, dated October 4:
Dear Employee,
We had hoped that the PSI and the Pittsburgh Musicians’ Union, Local No. 60-471, could have reached an agreement on all of the terms and conditions for a new Collective Bargaining Agreement without the decision to strike. However, we will continue to work to achieve an Agreement.
This letter is intended to explain your compensation and benefits during the time that you are on strike. All weeks that you have worked up to the date of the first day of the strike, September 30, 2016, that have not been paid, will be paid by us to you at the close of the next payroll period (mandatory deductions apply). No compensation will be paid thereafter.
By reason of this economic strike, as we understand it, you will not be eligible for unemployment benefits. Existing healthcare benefits were continued to be provided up to the last day of September, 2016. You will receive our standard COBRA letter that will offer healthcare benefit continuation thereafter at your own expense. No accrual toward any other fringe benefit will continue during the time that you are on strike. Please understand that this letter is not be intended to interfere with your protected rights under the National Labor Relations Act, as those rights are explained to you by your Union, nor is it to be interpreted as a comment on your decision to exercise your right to engage in an economic strike.
As stated above, it is intended only to serve as an information letter concerning your compensation and benefits as of this date. You must realize that the PSI has an obligation to keep Heinz Hall open and operating to serve our patronsand others as they expect and as may be required. In order to do so, it may require us to hire replacement workers, either on a temporary or permanent basis, as will be determined by the business necessity that we face. If we take that course of action, the PSI will assure you that it will provide to you all rights that are required by law.
A copy of this letter has been provided to your Orchestra Committee representative, Mr. Micah Howard. If you have any questions, please raise them with Mr. Howard and us for further explanation, if necessary.
Sincerely,
Christian Schörnich
Senior Vice President & COO Pittsburgh Symphony, Inc.
Personnel details: Christian Schörnich joined the organisation as COO on January 1 this year, having previously worked at the United Nations. He is married to Pittsburgh Symphony violinist Eva Burmeister.
Melia Tourangeau, president and CEO of the Pittsburgh Symphony said on his appointment: ‘Christian Schörnich brings incredible management expertise to the Pittsburgh Symphony. His strengths in finance, business operations, negotiations, and change management align with my priorities for the role and my vision for the growth of the Pittsburgh Symphony.’
Sunday will be a big night for Olga Peretyatko.
Jonas Kaufmann has pulled out of the Echo Klassik awards as a result of his throat bleed, leaving Olga in the live television limelight to receive the Solo Recording of the Year award.
Among other presentations, the German culture minister Monika Grütters will present Alfred Brendel with a lifetime achievement award.
You may add this story to your collection of Brandenburg concertos.
The Intendant of the Brandenburg Theatre, Klaus Deschner, decided recently that it was time for the music director, Peter Gülke, to call it a day. Gülke, who is 82 and has been unwell, vehemently disagreed.
They shared some angry, vocal exchanges.
Then the musicians got involved, voting unanimously for Gülke, a nationally renowned figure, to remain.
So now it is Deschner, who is 73, who has been ordered to pack his bags at the end of the season.
Boston University has announced that Zachery Camhi, the double-bass student who went missing in New York on September 18, has been located. No details are being disclosed. Zachery has a history of bipolar illness.
Thanks to all who helped in ensuring his safety.
A stalwart of English opera, Thomas Round joined the D’Oyly Carte company while still a wartime fighter pilot and moved on in 1949 as a principal tenor to Sadlers Wells.
He appeared in the first full-length opera televised by the BBC – Traviata, with Heather Harper, 1955 – and in Beecham’s world premiere of the Delius opera, Irmelin. He also recorded several operas for EMI.
But his heart was the G&S. In 1963 he founded Gilbert and Sullivan For All, touring North America, Australia and beyond.
He died on October 2, two weeks before what would have been his 101st birthday.
The death is reported of Fernando Laires, a Portuguese pianist who became an important teacher at the Eastman School of Music in Rochester, NY. He was 91.
Laires founded the American Liszt Society in 1964. He made several noted recordings of Chopin and Beethoven.
The death has been announced of Jamie Dietz, a gifted percussion player who worked with major orchestras.
He received his BSM from The Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia where he won The Albert Greenfield Concerto competition of the Philadelphia Orchestra. Jamie obtained his MMA and Artist Diploma from Yale School of Music. While at Yale, Jamie was honored with both The Theodore Presser Award and Yale School of Music Dean’s Prize. He completed a Teaching Artist Fellowship with The Academy—a program of Carnegie Hall, The Julliard School and The Weill Music Institute.
Jamie’s musical career included solo, orchestral, chamber and ensemble performances, throughout the United States, Europe and Japan. He recorded for New Amsterdam, CGA Records & Equilibrium.
Our sympathies to his sorrowing parents.
The Tokyo Philharmonic has made a surprise appointment of Andrea Battistoni as Chief Conductor, effective immediately.
Battistoni, born 1987 in Verona, has been working mostly with opera houses in Berlin, Dresden and Stockholm.
He first conducted a Nabucco with the Tokyo Phil in 2012 and the relationship has deepened.
Peace may have broken out in Philadelphia but in Pittsburgh both sides have hit the mattresses.
The PSO has cancelled all concerts up to and including October 27.
Nobody seems to be negotiating.
It may be the shortest strike in recent history.
On Friday, musicians of the Philadelphia Orchestra walked out on strike.
On Monday, they walked right back after a 73-11 vote to accept a new offer.
Here’s what both sides are saying. It does look like the management side blinked first.
Management:
(Philadelphia, PA) – October 2, 2016 – The leadership of The Philadelphia Orchestra Association announced today that they have reached a tentative agreement on a three-year contract.
Terms of the agreement include salary increases of 2 percent in year one, and 2.5 percent increases each in years two and three bringing the musicians’ base pay to $137,800 in the third year of the contract. Additionally, a Musicians’ Appreciation Fund will be established that will provide for supplemental compensation tied to the Orchestra’s financial success annually. Other terms of the agreement include increased opportunities for revenue generation and:
Continued support for the artistic excellence of the Orchestra and the future financial stability of the organization
The expansion of the complement to 97 musicians in year three
Flexibility to stage additional pop-up concerts more frequently
The expansion of the highly popularSunday concerts to embrace audience demand
Creative engagement in collaborative learning activities
Musician participation on the Development Committee of The Board of Directors and direct involvement in fundraising
Allison Vulgamore, president and chief executive officer of The Philadelphia Orchestra, said, “First, it is important to express our deep regret to patrons, students and volunteers for the cancellation of all performances this weekend. Each and every one of us takes our commitment to our audience and community very seriously.
We now have a tentative agreement that will immediately restore our music to our audiences and provide our outstanding musicians with a compensation plan that both increases their base salaries and provides additional financial reward as we continue to build resources for a vibrant and exciting future. This agreement is a demonstration that we are moving forward together to ensure that the Fabulous Philadelphians will be playing for generations to come. We are extremely grateful to the musicians and our Board of Directors for the swift resolution of this agreement.”
Musicians:
We, the Musicians of the Philadelphia Orchestra, with the deepest respect for our music, our audience, the City of Philadelphia, and the world’s musical community, have today ratified a new contract. This agreement covers the next 3 years, and gives us modest increases of 2%, 2 1/2% and 2 1/2%. These increases do not achieve our goal of being compensated on a level comparable with other leading American Orchestras.
The Philadelphia Orchestra Association has indicated to us that it will be engaging in new methods to enhance the position of the Orchestra in the community and to reach new donors. The musicians have committed to working with the Association in these endeavors.
The musicians believe that the vast majority of the recommendations made by Michael Kaiser should be adopted by the Association. We will be closely watching to see if this occurs.
When we reluctantly went on strike a few days ago, we had no expectation that we could quickly restore this Orchestra to the compensation and working conditions for which we are striving. But we felt that, after years of decline which threatened to become irreversible, this was the only way in which we could call attention to a situation we regarded as desperate.
Three years from now, we look forward to ratifying a contract which will truly restore the Philadelphia Orchestra to its rightful place among the great orchestras of the world.
We hope to see you at any of our October 4th Audience Appreciation Day concerts. Further information can be found on our website:www.POMusicians.org.
Check this for timing.
Catch them here.
The question is well put by a recent convert – to Mahler, that is, not to Judaism.
Here’s Barton Swain’s argument:
I wonder the degree to which Mahler had internalized this Judaic aesthetic, if that’s not an unduly literary way to put it. Many of the Hebrew Bible’s histories read this way: An untidy series of mistakes and betrayals and partial gains leads in time to fulfillment and rest. We know that as a child Gustav was an “excellent” student in Judaic studies, and many scholars have pointed out the Jewish influences apparent in his works, especially the Second Symphony, “Resurrection.” The analogy of his music to the life of Joseph is probably a fanciful one, but it is not preposterous.
Mahler’s achievement, if I’m right, was to translate the things that make human life by turns fulfilling and painful, elegant and stupid—the tawdriness, the chaos, the dignity and comedy and splendor—into exquisitely beautiful works of art. They are overpowering and outrageous in their scope, but beautiful all the same. Six months ago I didn’t see the point of Mahler’s music. Now, as I write, I hear the jokey pulsations and majestic horn trills of the Ninth’s second movement in my head, and it’s hard to see the point of anybody else’s.
