Atlanta Opera musicians earn under $10,000 a year
OrchestrasThe New York Times reported approvingly the other day that Atlanta Opera’s turnaround chief Tomer Zvulun made a handsome $700,000 in the company’s last financial year, parlayed down to $550,000 by some anxious PR.
Zvulun has, by all accounts, worked wonders for Atlanta.
Below decks, however, things are not so happy.
Musicians tell us that a section player is paid between $6500-$9000 a year for 3-4 productions, which is hardly an inducement to move to Atlanta. Hourly wages have fallen 12 percent in real terms since 2019. Contract negotiations are stalled.
Meanwhile, Atlanta Opera is spending $45 million on a new admin building and arts centre.
Not so jolly, then.
That is America!
This is theatre. Always the management get fat pay rises and cut salaries of the backstage, show staff, musicians, anyone and everyone who actually makes a theatre what it is. Some theatres hire volunteers as front of house staff because it is ‘rewarding and enriching’. So you get to deal with all the problems of an underpaid job except on no pay. Across Europe this has been happening for over 20 years. Depressing.
The opera orchestras in Europe don’t pay that little to their musicians. On the contrary, you can make quite a good living when you’re in an opera orchestra.
this article is about the Atlanta Opera. Some Symphonies and Opera Orchestras negotiate much better pay and benefits.
Sounds like that isn’t a full-time wage
Perhaps because it is not a full-time job?
But then, $550,000 for the director seems a bit excessive for an opera company that produces 3-4 operas a year, no matter how talented the gentleman is or how successful the productions are.
Things in the US for those at the top of many (certainly not all) arts organizations have gotten WAY out of whack.
Oh, and for this season, a total of 16 main stage performances.
You’re clearly unfamiliar and out of your depth
And in the business for 40 years.
Thanks for making this issue known. Btw, it’s Zvulun, not Zevulon.
From an Atlantan
Yes, as Alviano says above, this is America.
https://www.epi.org/publication/ceo-pay-in-2023/
Excellent. Thanks for the link.
There’s no comparing the two. These are musicians hired only when needed-it’s not a fulltime job for them, unlike the CEO! They are paid in accordance with the governing union contract.
If the orchestra doesn’t play fulltime, why should the CEO be a fulltime job? Also, even if it is just for 3-4 productions, the remuneration seems quite low.
I have this part time job but I only get paid for the hours I worked, that is so unfair, my employer has a moral obligation to provide me a full time salary, because I am talented, among the top 10% in my field (or at least when I applied I was at the top 10%, once I got the job my union forbade anyone else from applying for my job), my clients are lucky to have me as their service provider, they would gladly pay more for my unique experience and skill set.
If you think 40 hours of performing on a musical instrument is the equivalent to 40 hours working IT, or any other non-stage job, you are clueless about what a musician does.
Singers aren’t musicians. I see.
Reminds me of the attitude of the singers at the conservatory I attended. They considered themselves as “performers” and the instrumentalists as “musicians”. With the notable exception of one singer (admittedly, became a superstar), they are all retired or didn’t make careers. There are far more instrumentalists still playing.
How about just call them ‘artists’.
If the musicians are only doing 3 to 4 productions, that means 12 to 16 concerts plus some rehearsals.
I guess the pay could be a bit more, but it doesn’t seem that far off the mark for a small, regional opera company.
The executive’s pay is crazy. That’s what CEOs at organizations with $50+ million budgets get paid.
“… $6500-$9000 a year for 3-4 productions, which is hardly an inducement to move to Atlanta. ”
It doesn’t need to be.
Georgia has substantial music schools among its numerous colleges and universities. They will not need to cast far out-of-state to fill a pit orchestra with capable players.
If every arts organization thought that way, then why even have professional musicians? If gigs are for music students, then what gigs do professionals play? This is the most ignorant comment ever! Most music schools also stage concerts and operas and they don’t charge admission for their concerts, or they charge very little. In some towns, it’s very sad how the “professional” orchestras are just the local students playing with a few professors as principals and a few random freelances mixed in. That’s one of the many reasons why I don’t play in orchestra anymore – there is this ignorant expectation by society that the musicians on stage are “local university students”.
Also, I’d like to say that only the most elite music students are actually good enough to be playing gigs at a pro level. Even weddings shouldn’t be played by students imo – most of them are insufficient for my contracting standards and can’t read music well enough and can’t play in tune in an ensemble.
Their recent production of Boheme (Boheme!) played to half-full houses – so I’m not sure what it is that’s so successful there.
A part-time job taking up a total of eight or so weeks of employment. Obviously no one is going to relocate for that.
Just curious. Are the orchestra musicians hired as independent contractors or employees? Most musicians must make an annual income from a combination of performance work and a part-time job or full-time job.
Nowhere does it say a college music degree lets us only perform music for life.