Striking Detroit Symphony musicians picket board meeting

Earlier this week DSO officials informed musicians that if no contract settlement is reached by April 1, summer concerts will be canceled and the fall 2011 concert season will be put in jeopardy. However, management has refused a request by musicians for a face-to-face meeting. It will only accept unconditional surrender to its terms. The deep cuts demanded by management threaten the survival of the DSO as a world-class ensemble...

The DSO board, which is dominated by wealthy corporate executives, is implementing an agenda drawn up by the right wing League of American Orchestras. It is attempting to set a precedent for orchestras and art institutions everywhere.

The relatively small turnout at the Wednesday picket again underscored the isolation being imposed on the DSO musicians by the official labor movement. The presence of UAW President Bob King and Detroit Metro AFL-CIO President Saundra Williams, mouthing a few pious and hypocritical words of support, could not cover for their failure to mobilize any significant working class support for the musicians...

Judith Rosella said...“What is happening to Detroit speaks volumes for why we should be out here. There is a vendetta against Detroit. They are making a point. You crack the back of Detroit, you crack its spine. It's dead. We’re in 1934 again. We’re back into that cycle. What is happening to the worker amazes me. So you can bail out GM but you can’t feed our children nor can you educate our youth. I get it."

http://www.wsws.org/articles/2011/mar2011/dsom-m31.shtml

If the DSO announced auditions for every seat in that orchestra, with the terms of the proposed contract, there would be 100 applications for each seat from qualified musicians. Classical musicians are everywhere, and are actively looking for work, at any pay. This complicates this labor issue.

in a second-rate city.

I'm auditioning for First Kazoo.

Seriesly, if this isn't settled I'll join the throng who are NOT renewing season passes.

The pool of well-trained, excellent orchestra musicians is amazingly deep. I was an oboist years ago, in a community in California that had a very good, but very modestly paid, regional orchestra. A position opened for the second oboe chair. As a lark, I signed up to audition. I didn't expect to win the seat, but that didn't really matter to me. I had played with many of the current orchestra members in smaller ensembles, and knew many members well. They encouraged me to audition. The people who showed up for that audition simply blew my mind. Talking with some of the candidates, I quickly discovered that they came to that audition from all over the country, having flown out to audition for a poorly-paid second chair position on a regional orchestra. All played superbly. All were absolutely professional. I was two or three levels down from the worst person in the group, and I was a very competent oboist.

As I said above, if auditions were opened for every seat in the orchestra, there would be 100 audition applications for every chair. These days, wind instrument musicians are applying for enlisted positions in military bands who could sit in any orchestra in the country and perform at the level needed to produce a fine ensemble. The competition is fierce.

That's the sword over the head of these DSO musicians, and every one of them knows it. It's a very, very difficult situation.

Ok, that's a dumb joke, but ...

Then, the orchestra management has to convince an audience to cross a picket line. With all the union roots in this area, that will be difficult. Even the new musicians will have to cross the picket line at the players' entrance, hearing "scab!". That's a pretty good sword over the heads of the DSO management.

The DSO management has scheduled alternative concerts at Orchestra Hall, contracting with some "name" talent. As far as I know, all of those contract artists have backed out after getting email from the DSO musicians.

As a musically-challenged concert-goer, I can enjoy the "lesser" city or regional orchestras in this area. They don't bring in Yo Yo Ma, but I agree with you, the players are still excellent. Plus, during the strike, the "Musicians of the DSO" (as they call themselves) are performing at various venues in the area.

move. The picket lines do present a problem, of course, but there are plenty of hungry musicians who are waiting tables while trying their best to find professional work. Many of them would cross a raging river on a log to do what they love.

Detroit's in a very tough spot, I'm sure. I don't know what the solution is, but orchestras all over the country are experience some of the same issues. Most are having trouble filling audience seats, even without labor problems. I'm very glad I didn't decide to make music my career, frankly. While I was active, I still played as much as I could manage, in smaller ensembles, pit orchestras, and the like. I loved doing it. While making a regular check would have been nice, that wasn't my main priority.

The level of excellence it takes to actually play a full season and keep the butts in the seats is rare as can be. I made my entire career in the arts, and sure, it is always true that there are plenty of people who think they are first chair material, or ready to play Hamlet, or sing Tosca, but in reality, the vast majority of those are simply not in the running at all.
People used to ask me all the time about 'all that competition, each time you audition there are dozens, maybe hundreds, trying to get that gig' and my answer then, as it is now was that no matter how many were being seen, my competition was always the same 4 or 5 others. The rest were window dressing, wannabes, not quiet yets, and what not. A room with 50 is really a room with 2 who matter. So it comes down to guys who are just as good as me, and the choice is about details, feelings, taste, not so much about quality.
Any of the players they now have will not be replaced at the same level of talent and skill, perhaps one or two lucky younger players they might happen onto, but they will leave quickly as well if the gig is not as good as others.
The pool of actual talent is far smaller than most who are wading in it like to believe.

I do so like the word "Balderdash." It's a favorite of mine, right up there with "Poppycock."

I'll use the latter in response to your reply.

far better than I do. Of course. I note the lack of specific counters to what I have to say here. I expected that, because I have heard that song you are singing during strikes since I was wet behind the ears. It is a standard. There are variations for each and every occupation that takes a labor action. It is not going to ruffle the feathers of Union performers. They too have heard that song and in this case, they could accompany it beautifully as well.

what I know. I believe I'll just leave you to your own devices. However, I'm just describing conditions, not making any statement about the strike or the inequities of the offered contract. The current conditions are why the management may be able to get away with their insulting offer.

I stated no position at all. And you have no way of knowing my position on this issue. You've misread my reply, and badly.

bur her salary & bennies aren't being cut.

patrons, whatever we're called.

But if many refuse to cross the line, that might put a little crimp in Anne Parsons' half-a-million-dollar-a-year style.

Even executives (donors) may balk, since supporting a scab orchestra would make their own labor relations more strained.

http://www.detroitsymphonymusicians.org/whoskiddingwhom.html

'anyone' can do that job. WGA writers, they go on strike and out come the people to tell us that there are thousands of writers, just waiting to do that job, and that any of them could do so. The message that Union members are easily replaced by equally skilled people who are just waiting to show their stuff is a constant. It is never true, but it is always said. Even the newcomers of high ability will not become scabs to move forward because they know that they have a rare ability, which does not have to be sold to just anyone.
An arts organization that is happy with mediocrity can save a ton by picking up low quality workers. Sure, why not?
The world is also filled with those who cook, but few who are chefs you pay high dollar for, and the fact is, you do not pay the same for one cook as you do for the other. The fact that there are lots of drivers in the world does not preclude the fact that only a few of the best make a living via winning races or doing precision driving. I mean, we all drive, but how many of us could fill in at the Indy 500?

of Sousa marches and religious pageants.