UPDATE: Dallas musicians hit $100k
mainThe Dallas Symphony has reached a new three-year contract with its musicians, based on a wage freeze for the first year. The next two years will see a two percent upgrade.
Base pay is presently almost $100,000.
Press release here.
UPDATE: We’ve had the full numbers from the musicians:
2017-18: 99,526.96 (as 2016-17)
2018-19: 101,382.32 (+2%)
2019-20: 103, 274.60 (+2%)
The reason for the pay freeze in the first year is that management agreed to substantially increase its contribution towards the musicians’ health care costs. That was referred to a little obliquely in the press release, but it was something that was really important to us. There were also numerous improvements to working conditions.
And the base pay of a top London orchestra….? I don’t think they have too much to worry about.
It’s a small sacrifice to pay, happily shared by everyone, to have the privilege of playing under Jaap van Zweden and to afford his annual $5.1 million salary.
I hope the board chooses a $10 million conductor next time, because Dallas deserves the very best.
Whoa. Shade level +1,000
Articles on the internet say his salary is less than two million but that he got a re-signing bonus that brought one year up to 5.1 million. So, 5.1 wouldn’t be an annual salary.
As widely reported both here and in all the news media, a donor made a special one-off gift of several million $$ restricted specifically to keep van Zweden. It was not part of his official salary.
Does that donor get a rebate now that he’s splitting early?
A good conductor is worth his weight in gold.
The price of gold is $43K / kilo. I reckon JvZ is around 80 kg. So in terms of gold, he is worth around $3.4M.
Conclusion, JvZ is the only conductor alive who is worth more than his weight in gold.
But there may be things other than physical weight which topped the balance. For instance, I’m only 63,47 kilo but worth ca. $ 8 M, including recent increase in terms of future posthumous reputation. I’m sill looking around for someone to invest that money, though.
Remember, base pay is $90k, but titled players, of course, earn significantly more, and each year of seniority usually brings a few extra dollars per service, so I would be surprised if there are many earning less than $100k. And if you consider the much lower cost of housing relative to New York, SF, LA, etc., the effective pay is probably fairly close.
Not all orchestras have seniority pay. Mine (admittedly not in the same category as Dallas, or even close) doesn’t. A 20-year veteran, if they haven’t asked for a raise and managed to get it, receives the same pay as a brand-new hire.