{"id":598,"date":"2007-12-18T12:31:20","date_gmt":"2007-12-18T20:31:20","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/2007\/12\/18\/seattle-symphony-responds-to-nytimes-article\/"},"modified":"2007-12-18T15:08:12","modified_gmt":"2007-12-18T23:08:12","slug":"seattle-symphony-responds-to-nytimes-article","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/2007\/12\/18\/seattle-symphony-responds-to-nytimes-article\/","title":{"rendered":"seattle symphony responds to nytimes article"},"content":{"rendered":"

Seattle’s Crosscut.com<\/a> obtained a copy of an email sent out by the SSO executive director Thomas Phillion, which might be considered the first emergency response of the damage control effort. Here’s the meat of the email:<\/p>\n

While there are some positive aspects to the story, much of it concerns old news about discord backstage, including incidents that we have worked so hard to put behind us over the past year-and-a-half. The referenced litigation has been ongoing for nearly two years, and just recently the court dismissed the principal charges. There are no new revelations contained in the story, and in fact, there are a number of inaccuracies.<\/p>\n

But because the New York Times is a paper of national record, my great concern focuses on the potential broad implications such an article may have on our orchestra\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s national reputation. This is something we all need to reflect on.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Perhaps in the eyes of the average concert goer the SSO has an excellent national reputation, but the insider’s view has long been quite different. It is an exceedingly unhappy orchestra, even in the context of what is, on average, a very unhappy profession – and has been for a long time. Nearly every account I’ve ever heard in regards to the SSO’s problems has placed the blame for the discord (which is of long standing) squarely at the feet of music director Gerard Schwarz. The fact that the entire enterprise is built upon the efforts of basically one man, and with all parties beholden to him through shrewd board appointments and relationships with primary donors, is most likely what has led to the current situation. I don’t think that any personality, no matter who beloved or reviled, can sustain this sort of hold over an organization for a quarter of a century without an eventual accounting.<\/p>\n

I feel badly for the organization, because they are in a catch-22: if they continue on with Schwarz, the musicians will continue to complain (rightly or wrongly), the situation will fester and continue to deteriorate, and the orchestra will suffer, at the very least, artistically, if not financially. If they decide to move on to someone new, the whole financial funding base of the organization might decide to move on as well, leading to a systemic financial crisis. In the end, the entire model of the modern arts organization has long been turned on its head in Seattle – with one leader at the helm, and allegedly with little or no opposing viewpoints honored or listened to – instead of a joint artistic\/managerial strategy that seeks to create a flexible and thriving workplace. I hope very much for a soft landing in Seattle, not a crash, at least for the sake of the hard-working and excellent musicians of the orchestra. We’ll see…<\/p>\n

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

Seattle’s Crosscut.com obtained a copy of an email sent out by the SSO executive director Thomas Phillion, which might be considered the first emergency response of the damage control effort. Here’s the meat of the email:<\/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_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[186,115,2],"tags":[55,62],"class_list":["post-598","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-labor-issues","category-music","category-the-orchestra-world","tag-orchestra","tag-symphony"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pa8kC-9E","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":593,"url":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/2007\/12\/15\/damning-article-on-seattle-symphony\/","url_meta":{"origin":598,"position":0},"title":"damning article on seattle symphony","author":"Charles Noble","date":"December 15, 2007","format":false,"excerpt":"The New York Times today published an article of not insignificant length dedicated to the Seattle Symphony and its intense level of discord between its musicians and its music director and conductor Gerard Schwarz. Music In Seattle, a Fugue for Orchestra and Rancor By DANIEL J. WAKIN and JAMES R.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "labor issues"","block_context":{"text":"labor issues","link":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/category\/music\/labor-issues\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"conductor Gerard Schwarz","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/12\/16waki190.1.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":255,"url":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/2007\/03\/26\/why-orchestras-have-an-image-problem\/","url_meta":{"origin":598,"position":1},"title":"why orchestras have an image problem","author":"Charles Noble","date":"March 26, 2007","format":false,"excerpt":"I just happened upon this short article about the departure of the executive director of the Tacoma Symphony (which was my first professional gig when I was in undergrad at the University of Puget Sound) - here, you read it in its entirety, and tell me what jumps out at\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":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":13976,"url":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/2016\/01\/17\/2016-2017-season-announcements\/","url_meta":{"origin":598,"position":2},"title":"2016-2017 season announcements","author":"Charles Noble","date":"January 17, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"Page Moved: subsequent updates will be made at this location. It's that time of year, when orchestras around the country start trotting out their programs for the next season, hoping to get a good start on ticket sales and advance buzz. I'm going to link to the announcements here, and\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":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":624,"url":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/2007\/12\/29\/letters-in-response-to-seattle-nytimes-article\/","url_meta":{"origin":598,"position":3},"title":"letters in response to Seattle NYTimes article","author":"Charles Noble","date":"December 29, 2007","format":false,"excerpt":"In the upcoming Sunday edition of the New York Times, several letters are printed in the Arts section - you can read the complete letters (as printed) here. Here are some of the best parts of some of them: ...The implication that I was hired by Gerard Schwarz because of\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":14124,"url":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/2016\/06\/06\/socks-and-underwear\/","url_meta":{"origin":598,"position":4},"title":"socks and underwear","author":"Charles Noble","date":"June 6, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"In the latest issue of the International Conference of Symphony and Opera Musicians (ICSOM) journal,\u00a0Senza Sordino, the Oregon Symphony's ICSOM delegate, piccolo player Zachariah Galatis, wrote eloquently of the ennui that accompanied our recent ratification of a new collective bargaining agreement. I won't go into it, he describes everything quite\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "labor issues"","block_context":{"text":"labor issues","link":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/category\/music\/labor-issues\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Oregon Symphony\/Leah Nash","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/OSO-Full-Orchestra-Picture.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/OSO-Full-Orchestra-Picture.jpg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/OSO-Full-Orchestra-Picture.jpg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":105,"url":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/2006\/11\/15\/great-criticism\/","url_meta":{"origin":598,"position":5},"title":"great criticism","author":"Charles Noble","date":"November 15, 2006","format":false,"excerpt":"Alex Ross has an article in the week's New Yorker concerning recent Beethoven and Shostakovich symphony cycles, and it's a model for what I think music criticism should be: informative, contextual and insightful. Find the review here.","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":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/598","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=598"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/598\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=598"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=598"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=598"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}