Mark Likes Music

In its Arts, Briefly section today, The New York Times reported on news that Detroit's emergency manager, Kevyn Orr, is contemplating selling some of the Detroit Institute of the Arts's collection to cover the city's $15 million debt. Metropolitan Museum president and CEO Thomas P. Campbell predicted that the "disheartening reports out of Detroit today will undoubtedly shock and outrage the city's residents." Let's look at some data  that Campbell probably didn't consider before making his comment: The median household income in Detroit is $25,192 (the national figure is $50,502). 36% of Detroit residents live below the poverty line ( which is $11,170, $23,050 for a family of four ).  57% of children live in poverty in Detroit, three times the national rate.  The high-school graduation rate in Detroit is under 25% ; in 2011, the Michigan government approved a cost-cutting plan for school closures in the city that would increase high-school cl...

Mark Stryker  of the Free Press recently wrote about how the Detroit Symphony  is faring two years after settling its embarrassing, divisive strike. Some of the changes that the orchestra has made shows that the board and management are really making efforts to be forward-looking and relevant to today's audiences. For one thing, management is incentivizing musicians to participate in community engagement. Although the orchestra took a 23% pay cut--the base salary is still $81,000, pretty good in a city that has no money --there is a clause stating that musicians will get an extra $7,000 if they participate in education and "outreach" programs. It's essential for orchestras to start thinking of themselves not as concert promoters exclusively, but as educators and advocates for their art; the bonus money, although modest, at least shows that the DSO is aware of this reality. The DSO is also opening up new ways for people to enjoy its traditional repertoire. Because ...

Tim Smith gets a t what has been so dispiriting about the Detroit Symphony strike :  I've heard it said here, and I can well imagine it being said elsewhere, that finely trained musicians want to concentrate on the music-making they trained for; that they find too much community service detrimental to the fundamental goal of sustaining artistic growth. But the movement toward embracing the world beyond the safe routine of the concert hall is surely going to gather momentum. It makes sense, short-term and long-term. Both sides had their chances to present new visions for the orchestra, and both blew it. The musicians fell back on the tired old tropes about needing to maintain the orchestra's status as a top orchestra (for the sake of civic pride), about their value as fine artists who are enriching the city by exhibiting jewels of high culture on the concert stage. Management stuck to its line of needing to acknowledge hard economic realities; there was no talk of how the sho...

It's no surprise that the Detroit Symphony Orchestra today cancelled all concerts up to December 11 . The musicians have been on strike for months, and there's no end in sight; the two sides aren't even talking . Here's how startlingly bad things are financially for the Motor City band, as Jeff Bennett reminds us today in the Wall Street Journal : The DSO reported a $3.8 million deficit for its 2009 fiscal year compared with a $509,000 loss in fiscal year 2008. Corporate giving, driven largely by Detroit auto makers and parts suppliers, was cut in half, falling to $1.59 million from $3.29 million. The 2010 fiscal year results are due out in December. That's almost $4 million dollars on a $31.4 million operating budget, with a primary source of revenue drying up. There's no way the musicians can be ignorant of the realities here: their city simply can't support an 85-member orchestra with a base pay even at $82,000 (their base pay was $104, 650). What...

I found a couple of people weighing in on the proposal to raise property taxes for the Detroit Symphony , which has been on strike for almost two months now. Bottom line for both: this would be a quick fix with little long-term benefit. The Detroit News  opined as such: Musicians rejected a sweetened offer last week, saying the pay reductions it still demanded would compromise the quality of the orchestra. That seems a specious claim, considering that work rules in their contract make it almost impossible to fire a musician whose skills have waned. This contract fight is about the long-term viability of the DSO; taxpayers would do the orchestra no favor by approving a bailout before the tough decisions are made.  After arguing why governments should support cultural institutions, Edmonton Symphony Orchestra conductor Bill Eddins makes a similar poin t: Cultural Heritage tax proposals tend to embolden the opposition who thinks that the Arts aren’t important to a hea...

In an attempt to end the Detroit Symphony strike, a Michigan state representative wants to make it possible for people in three area counties to vote to help fund the orchestra with a small increase in their property taxes . It's worth considering: orchestras, privately run as non-profits, are nonetheless civic institutions, and there's no reason why property owners shouldn't pay a little bit for something that improves the cultural life of their city (and their property values). The tax increase would be small, only about $20 on an assessed $100,000 worth of real estate (by my calculations, so I could be way off). Assuming such an initiative goes before the public, here are some questions to ask before voting on it: 1. Is the orchestra an essential service? These are tough times for Detroit, and before voting to saddle neighbors with an added expense, it's worth asking if the orchestra is something that the area absolutely needs. 2. How much government money al...

The Detroit Symphony Orchestra musicians, on strike for weeks now, are putting on their own holiday concerts, starting this weekend: This isn't the musicians' first foray into concert production; back in September, after their contract was up but before the went on strike, they performed two concerts.  If I were the musicians, who seem to be both unified and highly motivated to do things their own way, I would start thinking about how they can abandon the orchestra as a corporation and form a new group in Motor City. Stop picketing, and start doing more playing.

Executive Director Lynne Meloccaro on why t he American Symphony Orchestra offered its players salaries instead of maintaining the pay-for-service model it's been operating under for years: We didn't want to do that because the perception people had that orchestras were collapsing all over the place was affecting philanthropy. The primary reason that Ms. Meloccaro gave wasn't artistic (although music director Leon Botstein said that it was "a way of stabilizing a very fine orchestra") or at all related to ticket sales (that an ever-shifting roster would result in inconsistent performances and a lack of personal identity that could repel audiences). This move had everything to do with the ask. No one will donate to a non-profit that is crumbling. The new ASO contract, so Ms. Meloccaro hopes, sends a signal to large donors that the orchestra is on sound financial footing. You might want to keep ASO's reasoning in mind the next time you see a non-profit art...

The Detroit News reported today that Detroit Symphony Orchestra management hired a lawyer to disuade local station WADL-TV from broadcasting a concert by striking musicians last weekend. And  the Wall Street Journal published a piece on the sad state of the Detroit orchestra . A few points stuck out for me that underscore just how out of touch everyone in that orchestra has been for years: Since 2008, the Detroit Symphony has cut 30 managerial positions.   The base pay for musicians entering the group was $104,650--and a pension and health insurance.  The orchestra was $9 million in the hole last season, and were $10 million in the red in each of the previous two seasons. They owe $50 million in interest alone.  This is the fifth DSO strike since 1969.  It looks as if a lot of people in that organization--and the board has to take a hit here too--weren't keeping watch, and were deluded about the state of the orchestra and the city as a whole. It's not ...

The sad orchestral situation in Detroit just got worse this past weekend, when Sarah Chang announced that, because of an outcry from striking Detroit Symphony musicians, she would not perform her recital  scheduled for tonight. According to Mark Stryker in the Detroit Free Press, she also received offensive and threatening e-mails from the musicians' supporters . The musicians are publicly claiming that the cancelation shows that Chang is demonstrating her solidarity with them, but it sure looks like intimidation. And a missed chance to creatively make their case to the public (who, after all, are the donors and concertgoers that help pay their salaries). Chang scheduled the recital when her appearances with the orchestra were canceled as a result of the strike. She wanted the money made off the concert to go to the musicians' pensions fund, showing that she was at least a little sympathetic. Trying to enlist her as an ally--to pressure orchestra management, to make publi...

Detroit Symphony players rejected management's final offers over the weekend , but because of labor regulations requiring the filing of paperwork, can't strike until September 24. But it looks like they will. The musicians are arguing that the dramatic pay cuts--over 20% in base pay--will render the orchestra second class. "That top sliver of talent, the ones who can truly thrill the audience, will not come here," says cellist Haden McKay. It's a pretty crazy pay cut, and I wouldn't want to take it, but the argument that great musicians won't come doesn't really hold water. There's more than a "sliver" of great musicians out there right now. The problem for musicians is there a glut--too much supply, and not enough demand.

The Detroit Symphony musicians' contract is up on Sunday. Mark Stryker lays out both sides' positions, and the broader implications of a strike, on the Free Press website.

Contract talks have been going slowly between the Detroit Symphony and its musicians (or the union). And it looks as if the latter isn't seeing things speeding up any time soon: they announced that they're presenting two of their own concerts in September.  They've set up their own website to make their case ( dsomusicians.com ), which I found out on Twitter (@dsomusicians). In tough times, musicians have a skill for coming up with creative solutions to keep their art alive. Why, once a contract is signed, don't they demonstrate that same energy and creativity? Why aren't orchestras--which are, at base, the musicians--harnessing all that creative power--to organize, program, present, and communicate--when times are good to build their audience and make themselves relevant?