Posts tagged as:

recession

the new normal?

by Charles Noble on June 23, 2009

Conductor Bill Eddins has a great post on the issues facing orchestras in the face of massive shrinkage of their endowment principal and subsequent attempts to adapt to what many are referring to has “the new normal”.  Here are two paragraphs that I found particularly interesting:

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all-classical FM program director resigns post

by Charles Noble on June 15, 2009 · 4 comments

John Dodge, the Program Director of All Classical FM (Portland’s 24 hour classical radio station), has announced his resignation in an email to staff members, volunteers, and board.  He is the latest casualty of the de/recession that has hit Oregon so hard.  Here is the email in its entirety:

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more cuts as orchestras attempt to stabilize

by Charles Noble on May 21, 2009

Here’s some more news from around the orchestra world as organizations attempt to stem the tide of red ink as contributed and earned income continue to fall across the nation:

Phoenix cuts all salaries 17% across the board.
Charlotte gets arts funding cut 50%, told to improve financial plan.
Chicago Symphony cuts musician pay 2.5% across the board.

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uncertain times as the season comes to a close

by Charles Noble on May 19, 2009 · 2 comments

Last night was the final concert of our classical series for the 2008-2009 concert season.  The performances by Joshua Bell in the Mendelssohn violin concerto were amazing and inspiring each and every night, and the Bruckner Seventh Symphony was powerful and yes, very long, too.  Audience response was great, and each night was very nearly [...]

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more cuts for orchestras

by Charles Noble on April 8, 2009 · 2 comments

UPDATE 4/08 [link] The Utah Symphony/Opera cut 11.5% of of their benefits plus Keith Lockhart takes 10% pay reduction.
[link] The Atlanta Symphony musicians have reopened their previously negotiated CBA (which ran through 2011) and will be taking an 8.8% pay cut by the end of 2011 (the first drop will be 5% for 09/10, then [...]

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OBT pit goes dark

by Charles Noble on April 6, 2009 · 1 comment

From today’s Oregonian:
In yet another round of bad news for Portland’s arts scene, Oregon Ballet Theatre is cutting its budget 28 percent.
The ballet will go on. Just don’t expect a live orchestra at any OBT performances or quite as many dancers on stage next season.
Approved by OBT’s board of directors last week, the almost $2 [...]

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musicians and the economy

by Charles Noble on October 24, 2008

I don’t normally pay much attention to what the musical iconoclast Norman Lebrecht writes, but I found some comfort in these uncomfortable times in his most recent column – here’s the relevent paragraph:
Orchestras, too, flourish in depression. London went from one symphony orchestra to three in the post-crash period of 1930-32 and from three to [...]

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