Tag Archives: orchestra news

Orchestra News

Grand Rapids Symphony Receives Community Engagement Grant

The Grand Rapids Symphony has been awarded a grant of $1.1 million from the Wege Foundation to engage new and diverse audiences with live orchestra music. The grant, spread over four years, will add community engagement staff positions and create a two-year music fellowship for a musician fellow to perform with the Grand Rapids Symphony and be mentored by symphony musicians, members of Local 56 (Grand Rapids, MI).

The grant money was first put to use with the symphony’s free community outdoor concerts at a local park in July. Funds will also help to grow the symphony’s Mosaic Scholarship program—a mentoring program for black and Latino music students, created with funding from the W.K. Kellogg Foundation. A new program, Mosaic Music Majors, will assist college music students of color in developing skills to launch their careers. Teenage students will be provided with musical instruments, private lessons, and the opportunity to perform at and attend concerts.

Orchestra News

Orchestras and Programming Selected for SHIFT 2020 at Kennedy Center

The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts and Washington Performing Arts have announced the four orchestras selected to participate in the third SHIFT: A Festival of American Orchestras, to take place March 23-29, 2020. Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, Jacksonville Symphony, Knoxville Symphony Orchestra, and Orpheus Chamber Orchestra, will each give a Kennedy Center Concert Hall performance with all tickets priced at $25, plus each will take part in citywide residency activities.

The festival will feature diverse repertoire, thematic collaborations, commissioned works, dialogue and vocal elements, as well as projections. Each orchestra will share a version of their own education and community engagement programming with the DC community. The DC festival also provides an opportunity for the orchestras to interact with their respective elected officials and to educate members of Congress about the value of the arts and orchestras. The hope is that SHIFT 2020 will facilitate conversations about the impact and value of the arts on communities.

Jacksonville Symphony

Performing at Kennedy Center March 24, Jacksonville Symphony’s SHIFT theme is “Bridges” and its program will explore the influences of jazz on traditional classical composers. Residency activities will include “Compose Yourself.” Composer-in-residence Courtney Bryan and symphony musicians, members of Local 444 (Jacksonville, FL), will help middle school students compose a personal theme song.

Baltimore Symphony Orchestra

Baltimore Symphony Orchestra will celebrate the changing faces of America in a program ranging from Dvořák to Florence Price to Golijov for its March 25 Kennedy Center performance. Residency activities will involve musicians of all ages through the acclaimed OrchKids program and Rusty Musicians, inviting amateur adult musicians to play side-by-side with Baltimore Symphony musicians, members of Local 40-543 (Baltimore, MD).

Knoxville Symphony Orchestra

On March 27, Knoxville Symphony Orchestra’s Kennedy Center performance and program will celebrate the artistic legacy of Knoxville. Its residency will focus on its Music & Wellness program. Musicians, members of Local 546 (Knoxville, TN), will work with local nursing staff and a neonatal unit to bring live, therapeutic music to patients in health care facilities.

Orpheus Chamber Orchestra

Orpheus Chamber Orchestra, members of Local 802 (New York City), and Classical Theatre of Harlem will offer a portrait of cultural diversity and vitality in New York City through a musical/theatrical performance of A Midsummer Night’s Dream on March 28. Orpheus Chamber Orchestra, with the Classical Theatre of Harlem, will present residency activities centered on the Orpheus Process, its signature collaborative method. An Orpheus Reflections residency will serve DC-area residents living with Alzheimer’s disease or dementia and their caregivers.

Orchestra News

Pokrovsky Opera Orchestra Protests Carry-on Refusal

When the Pokrovsky Opera orchestra musicians were not allowed to bring their instrument cases on board their flight from Latvia to Moscow, Russia, they improvised. Airport staff insisted that the cases be checked, but fearing damage to their instruments, the musicians removed them from the cases and carried them on board. Once on board, they performed Vittorio Monti’s “Csárdás” for the other passengers, much to the passengers’ delight.

Orchestra News

Nashville Symphony Contract Provides Increases Each Year

The Nashville Symphony Orchestra and its musicians, members of Local 257 (Nashville, TN), have announced a new four-year contract that goes into effect August 1. Under the new agreement musicians will see a 3.5% increase in base salaries in 2018-2019, as well as increases of 3.75% in 2019-2020, and 4.25% for each of the final two years. The contract restores an unfilled first violin position in the first year and restores an unfilled cello position in the second year, returning orchestra membership to 83. The audition process also changed so that screens will be kept up throughout the entire audition to ensure impartiality.

Nashville Symphony violinist and Union Steward Laura Ross says, “As the orchestra has become busier performing an ever-expanding variety and quantity of material, we needed to address workload and working conditions, along with the financial package.”
“This contract helps bring these excellent musicians’ compensation closer to their high level of artistic achievement, and we are proud to represent them as we move forward together,” says Local 257 President Dave Pomeroy.

Ross says the negotiations were “efficient and collegial” and she thanked her colleagues for their hard work. “Thanks to the constant work and communication by both the negotiating committee and the orchestra committee with management,” she says. “We are all proud of the result and the future direction of the Nashville Symphony.”

Orchestra News

Spokane Symphony Ratifies Three-Year Contract

In June, Spokane Symphony management and its musicians, members of Local 105 (Spokane, WA), ratified a new three-year contract. The negotiations were conducted with a sense of shared purpose and the goal of attracting and retaining talented and capable orchestra members, while maintaining fiscal responsibility.

“Along with a cost of living increase, we gained protections with the addition of Family Medical Leave Act language to our contract, added a new process that addresses air quality at outdoor concerts, and now have scheduling language that will help our musicians balance their multiple jobs so that it is more possible for them to be able to make a decent, living income,” says Local 105 Secretary-Treasurer Rachel Dorfman.

Orchestra News

New Jersey Symphony Orchestra Ratifies Five-Year Contract

The musicians of the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra, represented by Local 16-248 (Newark, NJ), have ratified a five-year contract, retroactive to September 1, 2017. Under the agreement, musicians’ base pay will remain the same for the first two years, followed by a 2% increase in year three, a 3% increase in year four, and a 5% increase in year five. The contract also allows for greater flexibility in scheduling, and defines rehearsal time for education and community engagement services.

“This agreement helps stabilize the symphony’s next few years, allowing for an even more vibrant presence in New Jersey and aiming for growth as we approach the NJSO centennial,” says Orchestra Committee Chair Adriana Rosin of Local 16-248, NJSO assistant concertmaster. “The Orchestra Committee thanks everyone on all sides for their patience during the negotiation process and gratefully acknowledges AFM Negotiator Todd Jelen and Local 16-248 President Anthony Scally for their guidance and assistance throughout.”

International Musician, Orchestra News

Orpheus Chamber Orchestra Ratifies New Agreement

In November, the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra announced that it has ratified a new CBA with its musicians, effective through 2020. The contract includes a wage increase of 2.5% per year for New York City rates, as well as restructured rates in other markets. The contract introduces a new chamber music scale, reflecting the orchestra’s increased presence throughout the tri-state area, and a community engagement scale, reflecting a commitment to broaden its reach in the local New York City community.

The new agreement provides more flexibility in touring rules, allowing Orpheus to adjust to complex travel schedules. A new Artistic Oversight Committee will continually evaluate the orchestra’s structure and artistic quality. Finally, the contract allows Orpheus to augment its roster by hiring musicians into a new “associate membership” tier.

The orchestra was recently awarded an increased grant of $175,000 from The Howard Gilman Foundation to support its 2017-2018 New York City performance activity. Orpheus Chamber Ensemble, whose musicians are members of Local 802 (New York City), is unique in its structure and governance, performing without a conductor and rotating musical leadership roles for each work.

International Musician, Orchestra News

Cleveland Receives $15 Million Gift

Richard and Emily Smucker have pledged $15 million to The Cleveland Orchestra in celebration of its 100th season. The gift will fund artistic and education programs, with an emphasis on young people. In addition, a significant portion of the gift will support the orchestra’s endowment. The Smuckers have designated $3 million of their pledge as a challenge grant.

“The work these musicians do inspires audiences and young people throughout our community, across the nation, and around the world,” says Richard K. Smucker, who serves as president of The Cleveland Orchestra’s board of directors. “From my own life experience, I know that music has the power to change lives.” The musicians are members of Local 4 (Cleveland, OH).

Richard Smucker retired from his position as chief executive officer of the J. M. Smucker Company in 2016. He was elected board president of The Cleveland Orchestra March 2017; he has served on the board of trustees since 1989.

International Musician, Orchestra News

St. Louis Ends FY with Surplus

St. Louis Symphony Orchestra (SLSO) completed its 2017 fiscal year with an operating surplus of $18,000—its first surplus this century. SLSO’s total annual budget was $30.3 million. The surplus was the culmination of a stellar 2016-2017 season, in which it increased ticket revenue 1%, with 23 sold-out concerts. SLSO embarked on a tour of Spain in February and performed at Carnegie Hall in March. Altogether, the orchestra gave 219 concerts, including 88 that were presented free of charge. A quarter-million people experienced a performance by the symphony over the course of the season. 

In January, a five-year musicians’ contract was reached seven months ahead of schedule. SLSO musicians are members of Local 2-197 (St. Louis, MO).

International Musician, Orchestra News

Detroit Symphony Gift Ties with Largest in Its History

Detroit Symphony Orchestra (DSO) has received a $15 million gift from the William Davidson Foundation. Of that pledge, $5 million comes in the form of a challenge grant to grow the orchestra’s endowment. Three other foundations—Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, Fred A. and Barbara M. Erb Foundation, and Dresner Foundation—have already pledged
$3.5 million toward the challenge. DSO’s endowment has increased significantly over the past five years. If fully matched, the challenge grant will bring it to $56.3 million.

The Davidson Foundation has a long history of supporting DSO, and has sponsored DSO’s neighborhood concert series for seven years. The gift ties with one from the Fisher family as the largest single donation in DSO history. The atrium at Fisher Music Center will be named the William Davidson Atrium. Musicians of the Detroit Symphony Orchestra are members of Local 5 (Detroit, MI).