The St. Louis Symphony and the American Federation of Musicians have reached agreement on a new five-year contract seven months before deadline.
Here’s the deal:
– Annual minimum scale increases from $86,053 in FY17 to $98,304 in FY22 … averaging 2.8% annually. There is also a bonus of $2,250 in year five that will take total compensation in 2021/22 to $100,553.88.
– An increase of 1/2% to the pension contribution rate starting in year three of the new agreement.
– Work-rule adjustments that will allow for more flexibility with scheduling and how the orchestra is deployed, increased rehearsal efficiency, incorporating a personal day and updating touring conditions.
Timothy Myers, Principal Trombone & Chair of the St. Louis Symphony Musicians’ Negotiating Committee, said, “This agreement addresses many of the musicians’ concerns about the Symphony’s ability to attract and retain the best musicians to our orchestra. With much recent positive press about our performances in capitals in the US and Europe, as well as here in St. Louis, our artistic standing is unquestioned. We will now also see our economic standing among American orchestras rise as well. Besides the economic gains, we also achieved protections for our health and safety that were lacking in our previous agreements. The professionalism and constructive dialogue at the negotiating table certainly helped us reach this early agreement.’
Richard Einhorn is suffering from sudden sensorineural hearing loss (SSHL).
“It literally sounds like a science fiction robot screaming in my ear,” he says.
The outstanding young pianist Nareh Arghamanyan has just posted this message:
I am very sorry to tell that due to unforeseen visa and boarder circumstances, I am forced to cancel the upcoming Tour in USA and Canada.
Sad for her, sad for the orchestras and audiences.
Nareh is Armenian by birth, Austrian by residence. Still in her 20s, she is extensively recorded.
As musicians in the National Youth Orchestra, Martin Suckling promised Katherine Bryan that he would one day write her a concerto.
Twenty years on, Suckling is Scotland’s rising composer and Bryan is principal flute of the Royal Scottish National Orchestra. This weekend, at last, she gets to premiere his concerto, titled The White Road.
Composer Martin Suckling says: ‘I’ve known Katherine since we were teenagers and we’ve long wanted to work together on a flute concerto. Katherine’s glorious tone and Edmund de Waal’s beautifully austere ceramic art were twin inspirations for this piece, in which solo flute melodies lead the orchestra in antiphonal exchange through a landscape of rich, gleaming microtones and strange dances.’
RSNO Principal Flute Katherine Bryan: ‘Martin and I have been friends for over twenty years. He knows me very well, and it had always been a hope for both of us that he would one day write something for me. The challenge of bringing any piece to life for the first time is huge, but the fact that it is written by him makes it even more exciting for me. The piece is alluring, stirring, tender, ardent… all in a 15 minute package. I cannot wait to capture people’s imaginations with it.’
The French-Sicilian tenor has signed for the Berlin-based Japanese label after a long attachment to EMI/Warner, and later with Universal France.
Alagna has big sales in France, needs boosting elsewhere.
press release:
Sony Classical is proud to announce a long-term, multi-album deal with charismatic star tenor, Roberto Alagna. Over a glittering, highly acclaimed international career spanning more than thirty years, Mr. Alagna has built a huge and dedicated following around the world. Acknowledged as Frances most important classical artist and as a cultural icon, he is one of the leading tenors in the world. All in all, Mr. Alagna has sold over 5 million albums in France alone, making him the countrys most successful classical recording artist ever.
Roberto Alagna commented: “I am utterly delighted to become part of the international Sony Classical family. I have long since admired the label and its achievements and I look forward to a long and fruitful association in the years ahead.”
Bogdan Roscic, President of Sony Music Masterworks, added: Not only has Roberto Alagna been a leading operatic presence for many years, he has also become a true force outside of opera by possessing that quality so rare in the classical world the ability to create music across genre boundaries. Not by dumbing down any of those genres but by combining them in ways which are new, surprising and always of the highest quality. I couldn’t be happier that he has decided to continue his recording work with Sony Classical.”
Kinan Azmeh, a US resident for the past 16 years, is performing with Yo Yo Ma in Lebanon at the end of a long tour.
But Kinan, 40, is worried he won’t be allowed to return home to Brooklyn because he’s Syrian by origin.
He was granted a green card three years ago on an EB-1 visa, for those who show ‘extraordinary ability’ in science, business, or art.
‘New York is where I developed my musical skills, and where I grew as an artist, he told Associated Press.
Just past of the prevailing chaos.
The Beijing Chinese Orchestra has cancelled a February concert in Seattle after 22 of its musicians were refused visas.
An official told a Seattle congressman that the musicians’ “stated purpose of travel” didn’t match the class of visas they’d applied for.’
Sign of the times.
The music impresario Raymond Gubbay has told the Mail on Sunday that he has ended his consultancy with the German firm that bought his company in 2008 and is ‘working on a new venture’.
Deutsche Entertainment has posted a €18.8million loss on its rock festivals.
The Raymond Gubbay Ltd part of its business remains profitable.
photo: John Rifkin/Lebrecht Music&Arts
Earlier this month, plans were tabled to dismember the Royal Orchestra, which plays in the opera house at Copenhagen. The costs of running the glorious new opera house means they can’t afford a full orchestra. All cultural institutions are taking cuts of two percent.
So now the Danes have built a lavish new arena for concerts, and the Crown Prince opened it yesterday. The cost was 1.4 billion Danish crowns – about £160 million.
To be, or not to be?
We have withheld the pianist’s identity, for obvious reasons. Here’s his conundrum:
To any immigration lawyers out there: I have a quick question. I’ve lived in the USA almost 18 years now. I am a permanent resident (Green Card holder), about to become a citizen (with double citizenship EU-USA). I travel in and out of the country a lot, in order to perform. I have two trips to Europe in March. How does the situation look? Will I be able to return to the USA after those trips? I’m a bit concerned. Thanks for your help. I want to know if I have to start planning to reset my life and start again elsewhere.
