Philly musicians go ‘reluctantly’ on tour

Press release by Philadelphia Orchestra musicians:

PHILADELPHIA—Today, Philadelphia Orchestra union musicians boarded the buses for their scheduled North Carolina tour “under protest,” after contract negotiations stalled out on Monday. Members of the Orchestra gave management the generous assurance that they’d avoid striking this week’s tour out of respect for the Orchestra’s hosts in North Carolina. Musicians have gotten no good faith in return from management, which continues to stall on key bargaining points around fair compensation, retirement benefits, and cost of living pay increases.

Frustration among musicians is mounting as public tax filings for fiscal years ending 2019 through 2022 show that pay for the CEO of the Philadelphia Orchestra Kimmel Center Inc. ballooned 111%, while Orchestra musicians made sacrifices and took pay cuts totaling $4.6 million to buoy the ensemble through the COVID pandemic in that time period.

Carol Jantsch, principal tuba for the Philadelphia Orchestra since 2006, spoke specifically to the need for pay equity for substitute musicians:
“In order to make music at the highest level, we rely a good deal on our substitute musicians, freelance musicians who are paid per service. Since the orchestra is currently 15% understaffed, we rely upon substitutes now more than ever to make up the difference.

For over a decade now, management has paid a lower rate for substitute musicians, and this practice is unconscionable. These are our friends and colleagues. They play the same notes, and they deserve the same paycheck.”