Deadline passes as Detroit Symphony strike continues [音楽時評]
Top 10 を自称するDetroit Symphony が，厳しい経済事情に直面して，給与カット；from $105,000 to $70,000. 提案を受けて，それではTop Class のmusicians が引き抜かれて質的低下を来すとして，給与カット ＝ Quality 低下の招来 と昨年10月4日に strike に入って約5ヶ月が経って，2010～2011season のキャンセルを発表する期限，2011年2月11日が過ぎても，なおキャンセルの公表がないまま，直接ではなく仲介者を介した交渉が続いているそうです．
シーズンのキャンセルはオーケストラの破産に繋がる可能性がある訳ですが，カット幅は何とか内々に community program を織り込んで，$82,000 まで歩み寄ったようですが，未だ未だ要求と提案の幅があり過ぎて，なお内々の交渉が続いているそうです．
"We are currently in informal conversations with intermediaries, (but) the content of those discussions … remains far apart from our $34 million plus $2 million requirements." とオーケストラ側が説明しているそうです．
住民の声として，please help me understand. DSO musicians have been self producing concerts and have initiated community engagement since the strike began. What happens after the strike ends? Assuming you would continue this type of outreach, wouldn't you welcome $2 million extra dollars committed to this type of work? What does it matter how the funds are disbursed for this purpose?
Please know that I'm a very vocal and active supporter of arts in Detroit, but I think you've lost touch with your community and major shifts in how arts and culture do business. と次第に住民のサポートを失いつつあるようです．
Barring a cancellation announcement today, it stands to reason the two sides still are talking -- if even through an intermediary. And that's better than nothing, which is what fans could be left with if the talks break down again. と，このCritic は悲観論に傾いているように見受けられます．
Deadline passes as Detroit Symphony Orchestra strike continues without canceled season -- yet
Published: Saturday, February 12, 2011, 8:08 AM Updated: Saturday, February 12, 2011, 1:44 PM
Detroit Symphony Orchestra members walk a picket line at the Max M. Fisher Music Center in Detroit, Monday, Oct. 4, 2010.Friday's contract deadline came and went, but management of the Detroit Symphony Orchestra has not canceled the remaining season -- yet.
President Anne Parsons said last week the DSO likely would decide the fate of the season by Friday evening if striking musicians did not resume negotiations on a contract proposal submitted last week and reportedly rejected.
While no agreement has been reached, management indicated Friday evening that the two sides have resumed communications through intermediaries, but it does not appear the talks have been productive.
Feb. 11, Crains: "We have informed the board, staff, artists, sponsors and community partners that the DSO stands ready to cancel," said Elizabeth Weigandt, the DSO’s director of public relations.
"We are currently in informal conversations with intermediaries, (but) the content of those discussions … remains far apart from our $34 million plus $2 million requirements."
The symphony orchestra's long-term future -- not just this season -- hangs in the balance, as musicians and management have failed to reach consensus after more than four months of divisive talks and canceled concerts.
This, despite the growing threat of bankruptcy and the fact that both sides in January appeared poised to work with a compromise proposal drafted by then-Gov. Jennifer Granholm and Sen. Carl Levin.
The strike began Oct. 4, when management unilaterally implemented a 30 percent pay cut in the face of a substantial deficit. For musicians, the cuts would have slashed base salaries from $105,000 to $70,000.
While aversion to such pay cuts is understandable, especially if the orchestra wants to retain and attract top-tier talent, the largest stumbling block that remains appears to make less sense.
Management reportedly offered musicians a package including $34 million for salaries and benefits and an additional $2 million paid out for optional community outreach work, which, if completed, could mean first-year base salaries of around $82,000.
Musicians, however, want more of that optional $2 million as guaranteed base pay, hinting at "myopic stubbornness" that may hurt their credibility with supporters. But musicians point out they remain active in the community despite the strike, taking to the MLive.com comments section earlier this week to defend their efforts.
hornguy123: There are many misconceptions out there about education and community outreach as it relates to the Detroit Symphony Orchestra. We, the musicians, have always done community outreach and education in many forms, both individually and with the DSO. Since the current management team has been here, we have done less and less. That is not our choice. We are not in any way opposed to community outreach.
If you have been following our own self-produced concerts, you have seen that we have been out in the community since September. Our thirteen concerts have been performed to large audiences in churches and schools throughout the Detroit metro area. As performers, we have been within a few feet of our audience and it has been as thrilling for us as it has been for them. Also we have talked with many, many supporters of classical music. We have been actively engaged with teachers, students and the community members about what they want from the DSO. And we believe that instead of imposing our own ideas or executives’ ideas about what should take place, our neighbors and supporters across the region know best about their needs. We respect their desires and urge the executives at the DSO to join us in providing real community outreach by making the full orchestra available as a vehicle for reaching and teaching a wider audience as well as the next generation of students becoming world-class musicians.
But that defense rang hollow with several readers, who questioned but did not receive a response as to why the musicians would oppose pay for optional work they are already doing.
skipperdee: hornguy, please help me understand. DSO musicians have been self producing concerts and have initiated community engagement since the strike began. What happens after the strike ends? Assuming you would continue this type of outreach, wouldn't you welcome $2 million extra dollars committed to this type of work? What does it matter how the funds are disbursed for this purpose?
Please know that I'm a very vocal and active supporter of arts in Detroit, but I think you've lost touch with your community and major shifts in how arts and culture do business. Our newspapers never fully recovered after their strike, which, like your's, occured at the brink of changes in how people receive and use news. Don't let this happen to our orchestra!
Barring a cancellation announcement today, it stands to reason the two sides still are talking -- if even through an intermediary. And that's better than nothing, which is what fans could be left with if the talks break down again.
