San Francisco Symphony was caught in a perfect storm
OrchestrasThe SF Symphony has been spinning music director Esa-Pekka Salonen’s departure as routine. It is nothing of the sort. The official line is that ‘Salonen’s tenure as Music Director will culminate in June 2025 following the completion of his five-year contract. Salonen will maintain an ongoing partnership with the San Francisco Symphony through regular guest conducting appearances and collaborations.’
This is about half of the grim truth that the musicians were told the day before.
What really happened? Salonen, a sought-after conductor of progressive – meaning expensive – ideas ran into a headstrong board chair, Priscilla Geeslin, who demanded cuts. She called his departure ‘bittersweet’. That can be taken to mean that she is at least half pleased by the costly conductor’s departure. She got her way.
The third element is a weak CEO, Matthew Spivey, only 18 months in the job. When Geeslin pushed and Salonen shoved off, Spivey was squeezed until the pips squeaked. He piped up something about ‘significant financial pressures on the organization that have become impossible to ignore.’ What’s impossible to ignore is the ignominy of the situation.
There were three elements in the storm and one had to give way. It was, inevitably, the artist.
Disaster.
It always comes down to the money. The city has turned into a hellhole under lib government as well. Too bad for the musicians. Maybe jaap will get the gig. Short flight from far east…
Jaap spend more money than MTT and EPS combined
It’s not called “San Fecescisco” for nothing, it be works hard for it every day.
very long flight to Paris, his other job, he’s not interested
Not sure about Jaap, but everything else is correct. The downtown area of SF is awful. Homeless people all over, drug addicts out in the open. Fecal matter everywhere you look. The smell of piss unmistakable. Who wants to venture there just for a concert? A great city has been ruined by liberal Democrats. There’s no denying it.
I was at tonight’s concert, all Sibelius, excellent. The audience and the orchestra gave him a standing ovation. He received a bouquet, apparently his second in so many nights, from the orchestra. We parked right on the street, our car was untouched, saw no feces or drug addicts, (at least openly,) ate dinner nearby, the restaurants were packed, the surrounding area was filled with folks starting their weekend, some at the concert, others at the ballet, and still others just enjoying the spring evening.
Haha! It’s the partisan propaganda that people like you spew that smells.
Of course no one complained when the City and the Symphony flourished for decades under a liberal government. But as we face the challenge to rebuild after a devastating pandemic that spawned rampant unemployment, drug abuse and homelessness, the liberals are suddenly to blame.
Hey, you can always move to Alabama, right? When you get there maybe you’ll offer Mr. Pekka-Salonen a better offer.
Pandemic was Made in China, all part of their plan. The left coast is a disaster. You live in Portland or Seattle?
Exactly. In fact, ALL of the top cultural institutions in the US are in cities run by liberals. It’s always the Republicans who fight tax increases on the wealthy and corporations that could help address endemic problems. Their MO is to fight solutions and then blame the problems (that they won’t solve) on the Dems.
Can anyone think of a cultural institution in a red state/city that rivals NYC, Boston, LA, Chicago, SF, Philadelphia…? Even Detroit has a great orchestra and art gallery. Houston is true blue, despite being in Texas.
Now that you mention, people do move into Alabama and out of California: https://www.statista.com/chart/12484/population-growth-in-the-united-states-by-federal-state/.
Alas, most of the idiots that leave the blue states vote for the same kind of politics that made them leave those places in the first instance.
No, I did not vote and I am not planning to vote for Trump.
The liberal government has shifted significantly further left in the 5-8 years and is essentially a socialist/progressive platform, especially in the large American cities; it is not the same moderate, post-Clinton/Obama-era government under which SF flourished.
Haha! And when have you seen far right support for the arts ??
One supposes that Salonen would have discussed his artistic plans and ideas with the board during the hiring process. Do we assume that they were completely caught by surprise by his “progressive – meaning expensive” ideas?
No, they were caught by surprise by COVID, just like most of the rest of us.
The NYT had an article about how ticket sales are rebounding and they had numbers for SFS specifically showing they were on par with pre-pandemic. The difference, I suspect, is that the tech sector is still going through upheaval. A lot of layoffs and a lot of caution. If I were a tech worker who made a modest but maybe 4 or 5 figure donation to the orchestra usually, I probably wouldn’t right now and be building my rainy day fund for fear of being caught up in the next tech layoff headline.
I thought the same. Presumably he had to submit his plans for his tenure if was selected.
I think you’ll read elsewhere that Covid changed the economic picture considerably. I’m sure they knew his plans and the board at the time fully bought into them.
I’m sorry MTT lived long enough to see this debacle unfold.
Mtt stayed there much too long, his musical ideas became so dry … His Mahler cycle… what a non event…. bit sad for Lenny ‘s heir..
The NYT gives more details, including the board’s grumbling about the cost of the artistic associates Salonen has insisted upon. It’s sad, all around, and especially at a time when ticket sales are strengthening (SFO is among those now doing better than pre-covid). Of course, tickets fund a smaller percentage of the budget than ever, and Silicon Valley zillionaires care less about the art of music than ever.
1) What’s Gaeslin’s qualifications besides being yet another “wife of” to preside over a major arts organization? (Obviously hubby is rich enough for her to be chair, but not rich enough to bail out the orchestra singlehandedly)
2) Of course the artist must lose every time, the artist does not think about basic stuff like does he generate enough revenue to pay for his artistic dreams.
Things cost money;, people cost money, is Salonen such a great artist that he’s getting his collaborators to play for free in San Francisco?
3) The CEO’s number one job is to save his own job.
Misogyny much?
This reeks of misogyny. I may not agree with her position (though it’s not actually published), but she has a long record of civic engagement and her family foundation helps support SFO’s education and community engagement.
No, waw, you’re wrong, the CEO’s number one job is to preserve and protect the institution and its stakeholders. But perhaps you were being sarcastic?
When the going gets tough, Salonen gets going.
If I have understood the article correctly, the maestro is fulfilling existing contractual arrangements, but not renewing them. In other words, there is no evidence of any breach of contract. Whilst a decision not to renew will be disappointing to those who were hoping for and/or expecting a renewal, it is very bad form to cast aspersions on the leaver’s professionalism or courage.
Has the artist lost? Not necessarily.
Salonen, after all, is gifted enough and in demand enough that he can simply walk away from a situation he dislikes. And he has.
What’s more, he’s in a strong enough position that he can be honest with the public about why. He’s using no cover story and very little euphemism.
In layman’s term, Esa-Pekka likes new modern music and it sucks.
He did the same schtick in L.A. with increasing frequency near end of his tenure and people hated it, including his own over-bloated compositions.
Certainly a better conductor than a composer. One has to ask why?
With the exception of West Side Story, Chichester Psalms, and a few other works, so was Leonard Bernstein.
Except every time I’m there lately, Davies looks 90+% full. Salonen is selling tickets.
Everything in moderation, even bloating.
You call Ms. Geeslin “headstrong” possibly because she’s a woman, and you make no secret of calling Mr. Spivey a “pipsqueak” for being a young executive. Then you assume the Maestro was “inevitably” the sacrificial lamb for being the artist in the trio, and not because he may well have been the one who walked away from the bargaining table.
It’s sad to see namecalling instead of unbiased music journalism.
You go right ahead, anonymouse, and live the rest of your life without adjectives.
Inevitably is an adverb. Pipsqueak a noun.
Touché
Most concerning is the reasons why he is leaving. Season release yesterday is well balanced for different audiences. Hard to believe that SFO will find a conductor that will keep bringing new music and fantastic soloists at such a rate.
A real black eye for a major organization.
Blindsided by these news, aren’t we.
in fact SF is covered from afar on this blog, mostly with retelling of others’ press releases with trademark snark here and there –
perhaps less Met and NYC and Yannick bashing, and more news, and scoring more actual coups??
We are going to miss you Mr Salonen. Holy smokes, you conducted the finest performances I have ever witnessed, thank you very much.
There is ALWAYS more to a story than what we read in the press. And likely more to the story than what was told to the musicians by EPS. Orchestras have come through the pandemic in a variety of states of well-being. SF has always been a leader in adventurous projects among U.S. orchestras. Who knows how much that has been costing, and how well funded they’ve actually been. But they are in a unique place in the world, so we should all be cheering for them, as an industry, to find themselves back to strength. It hurts more when these bedrock institutions go through downturns. They have amazing musicians, and still a core following. Perhaps EPS simply wasn’t what the board and the community ultimately wanted or needed, and that is reflected in the position they are now in as an institution. Certainly greater than normal efforts were going to be required coming back from a shutdown to cultivate and engage their base. Let’s see where it all goes.
For those of you who are trying make this forum a political battleground, grow up. This is all about the arts in a progressive city. It has nothing to do with what you see through your tiny MAGAt lens.
I think I know you! Great comment!
Nothing good has ever come from women having too much administrative power. In this situation they will barely be able to find a first-rate replacement.
Anyone who has been following the is s board’s actions will recognize how bad – despicable and incompetent – they are. They have reneged on contracts agreements with the orchestra members and decided to spend huge amounts on building projects. A tragedy, because SFO had become a truly world class orchestra.
In a culture in which board members tend to subsidise budget deficits, it seems tough to blame them for refusing to provide bottomless pockets. They could choose to spend their wealth on something completely different. At the minimum they would demand proof that the public were benefiting in sufficient numbers. Of course, if the argument is over the aesthetics of repertoire choices, that would be a different matter. This, along with issues such as whether a CEO is spineless in a situation where no amount of spine can actually balance the books, seems to me to require elucidation prior to denunciation.
Never heard a concert by Salonen that I didn’t find thought-provoking at the least. But like many conductors, he is interested in what living composers and directors are up to. Board members, by virtue of their wealth, may skew older and cling to the music of their own youth.
Perhaps the dividing line between budgeting and artistic affairs is blurry. But, to jettison Esa Pekka’s artistic vision so soon, after vetting and committing to his leadership, makes no sense. What is the Mission of the SFSO now? Must it be the bottom line?
If Salonen goes…I go
He has introduced so many new experiences for me. BELIEVE ME …MY DONATIONS WILL CEASE