Word came of the recent settlement of a new contract for the Boston Symphony. In years past, the rates of pay for substitute and extra musicians (which are filled by freelance musicians) was locked to the rate paid to contracted members of the BSO. This contract cycle the rate for freelance musicians (which includes the Boston Pops Esplanade Orchestra) was slashed 17 percent. Basically the contract, which gave BSO musicians a 4.6 percent increase in the first year of the contract (with more to come in subsequent years of the contract) made room for a raise for the permanent members on the backs of the freelancers.<\/p>\n
I think it’s a troubling development, because it’s not likely to ever be given back. The Oregon Symphony has a lower per-service rate for substitutes and extras, and though it’s always been a priority to get parity for the freelancers, it has never been the highest one. In the quid pro quo world of negotiating a CBA, you have to give something to get something, and sub pay always goes off the table very early on. I don’t know the history of the OSO’s move away from parity, but I have the feeling that it was a similar deal to what has just happened in Boston.<\/p>\n
What’s worse is the message that something like this sends to your pool of freelance players. They are basically expendable, since if they weren’t , you’d be keeping their pay at a competitive level. In Portland, our subs earn less per-service than in the Opera or Ballet orchestras, which is to me frankly unacceptable. If you are a freelance musician who is being called to play with your local major orchestra, you’re most likely getting called at the last minute (often the morning of the first rehearsal) because a regular player has fallen ill or been injured. You’re expected to play at the same level as the full-time members of the orchestra, but you’re often sight-reading a part that, if you’re lucky, you’ve played before, or if you’re unlucky, is a world-premiere of a new work. You basically play an audition for your section every time you show up to work, and for this you are paid LESS than everyone else?? Give me a break! Parity of freelance musicians is not just a “nice option” but the only one.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Word came of the recent settlement of a new contract for the Boston Symphony. In years past, the rates of pay for substitute and extra musicians (which are filled by freelance musicians) was locked to the rate paid to contracted members of the BSO. This contract cycle the rate for freelance musicians (which includes the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":303,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_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":"","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}},"categories":[2],"tags":[55,3666,3662,62,3656],"class_list":["post-72","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-the-orchestra-world","tag-orchestra","tag-oregon","tag-portland","tag-symphony","tag-the-orchestra-world"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pa8kC-1a","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":12604,"url":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/2013\/04\/19\/bso-marathoners-honor-marathon-victims\/","url_meta":{"origin":72,"position":0},"title":"bso marathoners honor marathon victims","author":"Charles Noble","date":"April 19, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"This is just a cool story - and you'll note that three of the musicians are violists, naturally! \u00a0","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":" Photo: Stu Rosner\/Boston Symphony Orchestra","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/04\/bso_musicians-500x282.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":192,"url":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/2007\/02\/01\/woodcock-to-new-england-conservatory\/","url_meta":{"origin":72,"position":1},"title":"woodcock to New England Conservatory","author":"Charles Noble","date":"February 1, 2007","format":false,"excerpt":"From the Boston Herald: British-born CEO of the Minnesota Orchestra Anthony Woodcock has been named the new head of the Boston-based music school. Woodcock replaces interim CEO Laurence Lesser, who had filled the post following Daniel Steiner\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s death in June 2006. Woodcock has held similar positions with the Oregon Symphony,\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":3104,"url":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/2009\/09\/11\/oso-contract-details\/","url_meta":{"origin":72,"position":2},"title":"oso contract details","author":"Charles Noble","date":"September 11, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"Here's a very succinct summary by Barry Johnson that is better than anything that I could cobble together: After a summer of negotiations, the Oregon Symphony Association and the union that represents its 76 musicians have reached an agreement that trims $1.4 million in pay and benefits from the symphony's\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "administration"","block_context":{"text":"administration","link":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/category\/music\/the-orchestra-world\/administration-the-orchestra-world-music\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":253,"url":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/2007\/03\/26\/violists-are-a-multi-talented-bunch\/","url_meta":{"origin":72,"position":3},"title":"violists are a multi-talented bunch","author":"Charles Noble","date":"March 26, 2007","format":false,"excerpt":"Just caught this photo from the Baltimore Symphony musicians' website - enjoy! My orchestral repertoire class was taught by the great Rick Field, principal viola of the BSO. courtesy of the BSO musicians page","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\/2007\/03\/violas_0051.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":191,"url":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/2007\/02\/01\/colorado-symphony-signs-new-deal\/","url_meta":{"origin":72,"position":4},"title":"colorado symphony signs new deal","author":"Charles Noble","date":"February 1, 2007","format":false,"excerpt":"From the Rocky Mountain News: Colorado Symphony officials today announced the ratification of a three-year contract with the musicians of the orchestra. The deal marks the first multi-year agreement since a five-year contract expired in 2003; single-year extensions had been approved since then. The new contract, which runs through the\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":14124,"url":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/2016\/06\/06\/socks-and-underwear\/","url_meta":{"origin":72,"position":5},"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":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/72","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=72"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/72\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=72"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=72"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=72"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}