Detroit Symphony Orchestra: Tod Ohne Verklaerung?

[Cato]

From the Michigan Live news site about what could be the death throes of the Detroit Symphony Orchestra:

" •'Final proposal': Management this week delayed a decision on cancellation of the remaining season, saying instead they will present a new offer to musicians by Friday.  Talks broke down late last month when management rejected a proposal from the musician's union, with each side blaming each other. The DSO says it will request a written response for its latest offer, which Crain's Detroit calls a "final proposal," by Feb. 11.


•Banks and bankruptcy: With the strike exacerbating the DSO's already-perilous financial situation, Daniel Howes of The Detroit News reports lenders have called on the symphony to repay a $54 million loan used to build the Max M. Fisher Music Center.  It can't, obviously, and the development "moves the DSO one large step closer to a bankruptcy filing with existential implications for the organization, the musicians, the management and the future of world-class music in Metro Detroit." 


See: http://www.mlive.com/news/detroit/index.ssf/2011/02/detroit_symphony_orchestra_man.html

What is not necessarily said in the article, is that this is simply part of the death of Detroit in general, a city which has had billions of dollars thrown at it by the state and federal governments in the last 40 years.

It also shows the suicidal tendencies of entrenched unionism, along with idiotic management.  What is better?  Playing classical music for c. $40,000 per year, or unemployment?  I know: you used to make $80,000 a year.  Things have changed: your company is now $54 Million in the hole!!!   

Management needs to be fired, and one of my 8th Graders put in charge, whose basic knowledge of economics is apparently more than that of the managers of the DSO!   0:)

We will see what happens!   0:)

[Brian]

After the San Antonio Symphony Orchestra came out of bankruptcy in 2004, the musicians accepted a base yearly salary of $18,000. When I saw that the Detroit musicians were demanding something like $110,000, I was simply amazed. Now, it's true that San Antonio's orchestra with its terrible pay was half a springboard for young conservatory graduates who wanted pro experience and half a retirement job for older players who just wanted to play a couple times a month. But the Detroit musicians are demanding far more money than I ever imagined musicians got. I always talked to music majors and performers and, well, people on this board, and they would usually say, "Nobody makes money in the classical music world unless you become really famous and develop a star international career, and that happens to almost nobody." It sure seems to be true: there are probably 100 unattractive middle-aged people who are better pianists than Lang Lang yet don't make 10% what he makes. But if the DSO musicians are making twice/thrice the "average American" salary, granted they have to pay back conservatory loans and granted they are highly skilled workers in a sense, but hey, I'd take that.

On the other hand, the management doesn't escape blame for this. They opened, in I think 2002 (?), a new music center, The Max (I've been to both the new and old ones, by the way), and if it took a $54 million loan to do it, they should have had a darn good plan for how to get that money. They sure weren't going to sell 500,000 more tickets based on the building alone.

I agree with you. This is an ingrained Detroit culture. This is the same thing that happened to the car industry. The last company my father worked for in Detroit was an automotive supplier which had previously been a division of one of the Big Three. Since the company had just become independent, they decided they deserved a fancy headquarters, and promptly constructed an entire complex of massive buildings, a lake, and a small forest. My father jumped out of the car industry, we moved to Texas, and soon enough, that company with the shiny new headquarters was in Chapter 11 with $5 billion in liabilities.

[MishaK]

After the San Antonio Symphony Orchestra came out of bankruptcy in 2004, the musicians accepted a base yearly salary of $18,000. When I saw that the Detroit musicians were demanding something like $110,000, I was simply amazed.

The issue stems from their conviction that they are one of America's top orchestras and should be paid close to what the "big five" get. NYPO I think is the highest paid, also on account on NY cost of living. Last I checked base salary at the CSO is something around $125K/year. Senior first chair players can make multiples of that. So it is that which they are measuring themselves against. The difference is CSO has a balanced budget and a still healthy endowment, Detroit doesn't.

[Scarpia]

The issue stems from their conviction that they are one of America's top orchestras and should be paid close to what the "big five" get. NYPO I think is the highest paid, also on account on NY cost of living. Last I checked base salary at the CSO is something around $125K/year. Senior first chair players can make multiples of that. So it is that which they are measuring themselves against. The difference is CSO has a balanced budget and a still healthy endowment, Detroit doesn't.

Soon they will be working at Burger King and demanding parity with workers at "The Olive Garden."

[Coopmv]

The all-powerful unions in Detroit ...