Posted by Rod Mathews on March 21, 2002 at 15:24:59:
In Reply to: Article in NY times: NO orchestra posted by Mom on March 21, 2002 at 05:10:52:
Here's the text:
March 20, 2002 New York Times
SAVING THE SYMPHONY
An Orchestra That Won't Give Up
By STEPHEN KINZER
NEW ORLEANS - When the Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestra faced a budget crunch in the summer of 2001, its members made an extraordinary decision. Rather than shorten their season, find a less expensive music director or allow the firing of some musicians, they voted themselves a pay cut.
This would be all but unthinkable in more traditional orchestras, but it was precisely in keeping with the style this one has developed. The Louisiana Philharmonic is the only symphony orchestra in the United States that is owned and operated by its musicians. They do everything from choosing conductors to approving the advertising budget.
"A lot of other orchestras are interested in our model," Ann Cohen, a cellist, said. "They don't necessarily want to go as far as we did, but especially after they go through bruising labor disputes, they want to hear how we've gotten everyone to work so well together here."
"Our model isn't perfect or ideal," Ms. Cohen said. "Certainly our musicians would be happier with any arrangement that would increase their salaries. And musicians anywhere find it easier just to come in, sit down, play the concert and go home.
"But a lot of orchestras are looking at huge deficits and realizing they can't operate that way any more. Musicians have a responsibility to their audience and their communities to go out and sell the orchestra. That's something we in New Orleans have learned how to do."
Ms. Cohen was a key figure in the orchestra's rebirth. It collapsed in 1990 after 60 years of continuous operation, an especially sad development in a city that was once a citadel of classical music. But the financial pressures that brought down the orchestra, then known as the New Orleans Symphony, did not daunt a group of musicians who met over Ms. Cohen's kitchen table and plotted to revive it as a cooperative.
In 1992 they returned to the stage for a 16-week season. They also swept floors, answered phones and raised money.
Now, a decade later, the orchestra has 69 members (expanding to as many as 90 for special events), a budget of $3.95 million, 1,200 subscribers and more than 500 active volunteers. It plays a 36-week season while accompanying local opera and ballet companies, performing regularly for schoolchildren and traveling throughout Louisiana.
"There was absolutely pure democracy at the beginning," said Hugh W. Long, president of the orchestra's board. "The length of our meetings and the debates over detail were legendary. Then, slowly, the board of trustees took over governing responsibility. The board is made up of both musicians and community members, but were all elected by the musicians, so musicians are in absolute, total control of the organization."
"Most orchestras struggle over issues of `them against us,' but here we're all on the same course," Mr. Long said. "We've taken away a significant source of conflict that tears many orchestras apart. We have the classic model of shareholders, in this case the musicians, electing a board. In a good year, the shareholders get a bonus, which is equivalent to a dividend. Everything is covered by a collective bargaining agreement that the orchestra negotiates with itself."
New Orleans does not have many big corporations or high-flying business executives, and the orchestra's board reflects that. In many cities, orchestra trustees represent the corporate elite, high society and families with great personal wealth. Here they include a school principal, an anatomy professor and the owner of three McDonald's restaurants.
"When the cooperative was formed, many people predicted that the business community would never support it," said Stephen W. Hales, a pediatrician who is a trustee. "We had gone through a financial debacle, and instead of coming up with a conventional solution, we produced a brand new model that people told us couldn't succeed in any way, shape or form. People said no right-thinking businessman would ever contribute to an organization run by labor."
"But the business community has actually been quite supportive," Dr. Hales said. "Convincing them didn't turn out to be the problem. In fact, they're respectful of what we're doing and the entrepreneurial way we do it. The problem is that the business community here just doesn't have the deep pockets you find in other big cities.
"In the last 30 years, New Orleans has gone from being one of the three or four most prosperous cities in the South to not even being in the top 20. The oil bust of the 1980's hit us hard, and cities like Dallas and Atlanta just zoomed right past us. We don't have any Fortune 500 companies or big corporate headquarters here. New Orleans is just limping along economically. Our orchestra has to make due with relatively modest help from a lot of pretty small businesses."
Even in this climate, however, business leaders recognize that cultural institutions bolster the local economy. Many are also impressed with the fiscal probity and strict budgetary constraints that have become the symphony's trademarks. It does not carry debt, and it has an unusually small administrative staff, just 12, less than half of what most orchestras of comparable size have.
"The business community considers this orchestra to be very fiscally responsible," said Timothy Kelly, an accountant who contributes to the orchestra and has persuaded his firm to match his personal contribution. "People here also believe that a city of this size needs a symphony. We have a lot of jazz, blues and Cajun music, but if you don't also have classical music, that's a detriment to the total package that the city can offer."
The Louisiana Philharmonic is hardly the only symphony orchestra in financial difficulty. Since the concert season began, the San Jose Symphony in California has stopped performing and has a $2.5 million deficit, the St. Louis Symphony and the Toronto Symphony announced schedule and salary cuts, and the Chicago Symphony reported its first deficit in eight years.
Specialists who follow American orchestras say that the Louisiana Philharmonic has succeeded largely because it has a core of musicians prepared to make extraordinary sacrifices.
"Its been a fabulous success from an organizational point of view," said Paul Judy, chairman of the Illinois-based Symphony Orchestra Institute, which seeks to promote symphonic music. "Orchestras that go bankrupt and then try to revive themselves with traditional structures usually don't succeed. A few, like Pittsburgh and Milwaukee, are giving a greater role to musicians. There's probably more potential for Louisiana-type situations than you might expect."
The Louisiana Philharmonic's white-bearded, 65-year-old music director, Klauspeter Seibel, is perhaps the most visible symbol of its ambition. He is also resident conductor of the Frankfurt and Dresden operas and has conducted several leading orchestras in his native Germany.
Although European orchestras give their musicians a greater role in administrative decisions than is common in the United States, Mr. Seibel said the New Orleans model went beyond what he has seen anywhere else.
"It's a very unusual arrangement, but I've come to see its great value," he said during a break in a rehearsal. "Not only do you avoid the hostility that often exists between musicians and the orchestra directors, but the musicians have a great respect for themselves and for the institution. Its something that is missing even in some of the world's greatest orchestras."
"There is a disadvantage, which is that decisions come very slowly. But a decision that develops from discussion has a weight that you don't get when someone just says yes or no. You need a positive climate to produce good music, and we have that here. There's a strong sense of belonging. Wages are low, but that's not because someone dictated it."
Mr. Seibel said he is pleased with the quality of the players he directs, many of whom are young and spend their summers playing in festivals throughout the country and abroad. Each year some are hired away by larger orchestras that can afford to pay considerably more than the $18,200 that is now the standard salary here.
The orchestra's repertory is broad, from early classic to contemporary, but Mr. Seibel said he does not go out of his way to present especially challenging works.
"We don't only play what we know people will like, but at the same time we're careful not to alienate them," he said. "The hall isn't always as full as we would like. I don't want to present programs that people can't digest."
The orchestra opened the season in September 2001 with a 10th birthday celebration. It included an outdoor party at which children and families could meet musicians and learn about their instruments and two black-tie parties organized with the new D-Day Museum here. The musical program included Copland's "Fanfare for the Common Man," Dvorak's "New World" symphony and "My Name Is Citizen Soldier," a commissioned work composed by Frank Proto with words by the poet and playwright John Chenault. The narrative is about D-Day.
Beethoven, Mozart and Tchaikovsky are on this year's calendar, but so are Glinka and Respighi.
"You could say that with the level of corporate support we have, we shouldn't have an orchestra of this size or concerts of this quality," said Barbara Mollere, the orchestra's general manager. "But we're a historic city with a very long association with quality music, and we don't want to lose that. We're passionate people down here. We want first-rate experiences. We eat good food, we know how to party and we love the fine pleasures of life. Not only that, but we want them here in New Orleans. We don't want to go somewhere else to get these experiences."