No sooner had the musicians authorised a pay strike than the management of the Kennedy Center in Washington DC took to social media to post a series of aggressive claims – which, musicians tell us, are both provocative and inaccurate.
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Shameful tactics by management, and hardly accurate.
Based on this, I have to presume they are members of the MAGA crowd, ready to stick it to labor unions and workers at every turn. Sad.
You don’t know what you are writing about. There are no more woke arts administrators in the US than Ms. Rutter. If she had her choice she would turn the KC into a venue for rap, gospel, and “Latinx” music. She has never shown much interest in the NSO. Having written that, I think the NSO is in for a major battle for which they have little leverage. The NSO has improved immensely in recent years, and going to their concerts is a pleasure. They perform with enthusiasm and energy as if concerts really matter. A sea change in attitude. But their salary does not seem totally out of line. The cost of living in NY and SF are far higher.
Unfortunately, the NSO has never been a source of civic pride like the CSO or Cleveland Orchestras. And now we live in a society where competition for leisure time is tremendous and there are many alternatives even in the classical music scene in the DC area. I wish the NSO luck but I am not optimistic this strike will turn out well for them. In the meantime, I will get my tickets to the Berlin Philharmonic which is visiting in November. I am putting off buying my season tickets for the NSO.
Here we have, yet again, a proof of the U.S. binary world where it is management versus musicians, or elsewhere Democrat versus Republican, friend or enemy, good or evil, etc…everything in the U.S. culture is reduced to a binary set of extremes, with nothing in between. Their simplistic world ignores the large spectrum of colours, different opinions and never shows any nuance or understanding that life is far more complex and interesting than their dull black and white world. The only area where they seem to leave aside their binary track mindset is when they talk about their sexuality, allowing people to present themselves and be protected in every possible variant imaginable. Yet, in daily life everything remains binary and ever so boring and simplistic.
Nigel is that you? Tread lightly….
If these prints are accurate, they do not have much to complain about. Also, there is a big market out there, you can always find some place better… if you know what I mean.
I guess they don’t ever need to practice (to learn their parts and prepare for rehearsals). Just like college professors who teach less than 20 hours per week and never need to prepare lectures and grade papers. What sweet gigs!
not to mention brandishing the shameful average holiday deals of the average US worker as a cosh.
All the learning of a piece takes place at the Kennedy Center. These are professional musicians. What has been written by mgmt is very accurate. The concert hall is half empty at many performances. The repertoire they choose is a bore. The KC should cut the number of performances, not increase pay for folks not drawing crowds
Not to rehash the “20 hour work week” debate that was discussed in the NY Philharmonic salary post, BUT:
1) The difference here is that even management thinks that they are paid for only 20 hours of work.
2) Which is a legitimate point: The musicians ARE free to do whatever they want outside those 20 hours per week.
3) It is entirely their perogative to devote all that other time to whatever they want: whether it’s (a) practice, practice, practice, or (b) get a second or third job.
They are still being offered $179K no matter what they do beyond showing up for 20 hours, even if they just sat on a couch binge watching Netflix all day long.
No one cares; and no one is policing them; no one is re-auditioning them every year, their tenure is secured!
I care. The 20 hours is accurate. I don’t get paid that much. Why should they? Are you aware that the KC sells many prime orchestra seats for only $10 ( a discount) in order to fill some seats. Bring in the many great musicians and ensembles who are more popular.
It’s true that many orchestral musicians do spend a lot of out-of-contract hours practising parts or working on technique. But anyone who’s worked with a contract orchestra will have known players who made it a point of pride not to practise or to prepare parts (some even boast about it); as well as players who held down full-time jobs (eg conservatoire professorships) and managed thriving freelance careers outside of their 20-25 hours of contracted orchestral time per week.
It shouldn’t be surprising. New and unfamiliar works, of course, demand individual practise before the first rehearsal. But for a seasoned orchestral player some years into their career, does every performance of (say) Dvorak 9 or Beethoven 3 really require 10-15 hours of preparation?
The point is that contract-orchestra players are not required to offer anything to their employers beyond their contracted hours – which do not amount to what most people would call a full-time job. Some – indeed, many – certainly do offer much more. But plenty do not.
This orchestra has been paid for years as well, or better, than the American Big 5 orchestras. However,, the artistic quality has not even been comparable. Seems to me the musicians need to up THEIR game if they want to be compensated at the same level as their more prestigious counterparts.
Their artistic quality is actually excellent. It is ticket sales that are lacking. Their schedule needs to be reduced so that the KC can offer more popular musicians. Why should they pay musicians more for small audiences. It simply is not logical.
Ah, the old “20 hour work week” chestnut. Those cranky musicians won’t see that one coming…
The NSO is not selling tickets. Rather than give musicians a raise, the season should be cut in half. The National Park Service’s Kennedy Center concert hall should be used by more diverse performers. The KC should never give the orchestra such a ridiculous raise
Which of these points is inaccurate? ……..I’ll wait….
Many occupations and/or professions require “unpaid” preparation time—especially in this pay echelon. It is what as known as being ready to perform the task for which one is being paid. My guess is that the musicians are somewhat embarrassed by the unveiling of the details to the public, revealing what a nice work life they enjoy…and have earned. Yes, they are very accomplished, no question. The management proposal seems fair for all. And…please don’t to compare the NSO to the CSO, BSO, Philly, etc., as doing so only reveals naivety. The NSO is a good orchestra and the members deserve what they are being offered.
Meanwhile in the UK, an orchestral musician working those hours at £200 a day (approximately the going rate for a section principal, most players earn less) would expect to earn the princely sum of £48,000 before expenses and tax. Good on the NSO musicians for wanting to uphold standards; we have failed to do so here and our industry is becoming increasingly untenable as an occupation.
Another fact missing in these statements: musicians carry the cost of high quality instrument purchases and the maintenance required for such instruments.
These comments (made by admin/management) shows a blatant misunderstanding of the orchestral industry. No orchestra works 9-5pm, 52 weeks per year. No orchestra would be able to, no city would support it, no musician would agree to play in that orchestra. It is simply not how orchestras function, ever.
And generally, management opposes adding additional weeks, because it means a higher budget, which they can not afford.
Note that Ms. Deborah F Rutter, the President, makes $1.4mil per year (plus $40K in bonuses– double the yearly raise proposed for musicians). Yet she strongly opposes raises for the orchestra.
I wonder where she’d rather have the money go.
Management and the unions try the same manipulative Chicken Little tactics every time there is a CBA negoation