{"id":24825,"date":"2026-06-01T18:45:56","date_gmt":"2026-06-02T01:45:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/?p=24825"},"modified":"2026-06-01T18:45:56","modified_gmt":"2026-06-02T01:45:56","slug":"its-called-a-furlough","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/2026\/06\/01\/its-called-a-furlough\/","title":{"rendered":"It’s called a furlough."},"content":{"rendered":"\n

As the end of my 31st season with the Oregon Symphony draws closer, I’ve thought about how I’ve answered the question “What kind of job is it, to be in the symphony? Is it full-time? Do you have to supplement your income?” Lately, I’ve answered that, yes, it is a full-time job during the season. Some of us teach and do outside gigs to make ends meet or to save money. But we don’t play for about nine weeks during the summer months, so we have a schedule similar to what public school teachers have. People usually respond with something like “Oh, that’s great! You get the summer off – a nice break.” And I’ve started to say, it’s really a furlough<\/em>. We get health insurance coverage during that time, but don’t get paid. Some of us take unemployment benefits during this time (though it’s become more and more of a pain to apply for and to receive benefits), while others do summer festivals to close the gap, or a combination of both.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I’m hoping that the term of art becomes ‘summer furlough’ instead of ‘summer break’. I think it makes an important distinction.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

As the end of my 31st season with the Oregon Symphony draws closer, I’ve thought about how I’ve answered the question “What kind of job is it, to be in the symphony? Is it full-time? Do you have to supplement your income?” Lately, I’ve answered that, yes, it is a full-time job during the season. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":303,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"It's called a furlough.","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-24825","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-the-orchestra-world"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pa8kC-6sp","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":24850,"url":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/2025\/08\/28\/summer-roundup-part-1\/","url_meta":{"origin":24825,"position":0},"title":"Summer Roundup (Part 1)","author":"Charles Noble","date":"August 28, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"Summers are an interesting time for musicians - whether they are in a full 52 week orchestra, freelance performers, or members of orchestras that play less than 52 weeks each season. The Oregon Symphony plays 40 weeks a year - leaving 12 weeks where we find work where we can.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "chamber music"","block_context":{"text":"chamber music","link":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/category\/music\/chamber-music\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/IMG_8741-scaled.jpeg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/IMG_8741-scaled.jpeg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/IMG_8741-scaled.jpeg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/IMG_8741-scaled.jpeg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/IMG_8741-scaled.jpeg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/IMG_8741-scaled.jpeg?resize=1400%2C800&ssl=1 4x"},"classes":[]},{"id":2154,"url":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/2009\/03\/16\/more-bad-news\/","url_meta":{"origin":24825,"position":1},"title":"more bad news","author":"Charles Noble","date":"March 16, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"The Charleston Symphony (SC) only made a partial payroll this week: Players of the Charleston Symphony Orchestra did not get full pay on Friday. The symphony's bank account depleted, management and musicians spent hours last week discussing their predicament and negotiating a solution, according to some involved. \"Short paychecks\" and\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "labor issues"","block_context":{"text":"labor issues","link":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/category\/music\/labor-issues\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":2952,"url":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/2009\/08\/06\/more-cuts-at-us-orchestras\/","url_meta":{"origin":24825,"position":2},"title":"more cuts at US orchestras","author":"Charles Noble","date":"August 6, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"The Minnesota Orchestra and Houston Symphony have just concluded negotiations with their musicians that have resulted in substantial cuts in wages, either via pay cuts, unpaid furloughs, or both. In Minnesota [from the Minneapolis Star-Tribune]: Musicians at the Minnesota Orchestra have agreed to concessions in the face of financial pressures\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "labor issues"","block_context":{"text":"labor issues","link":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/category\/music\/labor-issues\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":20893,"url":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/2021\/01\/19\/what-i-would-have-been-playing-this-week-1-18-21-edition\/","url_meta":{"origin":24825,"position":3},"title":"what I would have been playing this week – 1\/18\/21 edition","author":"Charles Noble","date":"January 19, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"1\/22\/21 - An African American Requiem William Eddins,\u00a0conductorThe African American Requiem Choir,\u00a0featuring\u00a0Resonance Ensemble, Kingdom Sound Gospel Ensemble,\u00a0and\u00a0members of regional choirsKatherine FitzGibbon,\u00a0chorusmasterBrandie Sutton,\u00a0sopranoKarmesha Peake,\u00a0mezzo-sopranoBernard Holcomb,\u00a0tenorKenneth Overton,\u00a0baritoneS. Renee Mitchell,\u00a0poet and narratorOregon Symphony Damien Geter:\u00a0An African American Requiem (World premiere) Not playing this concert just makes me so sad, especially given the repeated\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "the orchestra world"","block_context":{"text":"the orchestra world","link":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/category\/music\/the-orchestra-world\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/wwibp.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/wwibp.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/wwibp.png?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":3693,"url":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/2009\/12\/30\/strike-authorization-in-seattle\/","url_meta":{"origin":24825,"position":4},"title":"strike authorization in seattle","author":"Charles Noble","date":"December 30, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"Things aren't looking good up north at the Seattle Symphony, with the musicians and management far apart on numbers for a new contract between the two parties.\u00a0 According to this Seattle Times article, a vote to authorize a strike action from the negotiation committee was approved by the rank and\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "labor issues"","block_context":{"text":"labor issues","link":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/category\/music\/labor-issues\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":4707,"url":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/2010\/05\/28\/fourteen-down\/","url_meta":{"origin":24825,"position":5},"title":"fourteen down","author":"Charles Noble","date":"May 28, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"Another season of the Oregon Symphony has wrapped.\u00a0 This year ended my fourteenth season with the Oregon Symphony - I can hardly believe it's been that long already.\u00a0 I still largely feel like I just got here.\u00a0 Yet so much has changed since then.\u00a0 When I arrived, I was 26\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "summer festivals"","block_context":{"text":"summer festivals","link":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/category\/music\/summer-festivals\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24825","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/303"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=24825"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24825\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=24825"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=24825"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=24825"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}