ArtsWatch

Last time the Philadelphia Orchestra Association negotiated a new labor pact with its musicians, in 2004, the orchestra's chairman called the players' contract a "roadmap to extinction." That word, "extinction," isn't exactly something most development experts would advise you to say out loud while you're trying to excite donors about a $125 million endowment campaign. Mayor Street eventually stepped in and brokered a deal.
This time around the public relations campaign has been a lot less alarmist. The current three-year deal expires this Monday the 17th at 12:01 a.m.; the first rehearsal is slated for Tuesday; opening night is the 20th. Talks continue, but both sides have so far refrained from the public mud-slinging of years past.
Good thing, since the $125 million endowment campaign is still not done.
That doesn't mean internal communication is any more civil this time, or that a strike is out of the question, though no one I've talked to thinks a strike is likely. A deal is still possible in the next few days, and so is a contract extension.
The essence of what the Association was looking for in 2004 was more flexibility in its ability to earn money from concerts - the right to split the orchestra in two for two concerts going on at the same time and concerts on Sundays. Expect more of the same this time. The Association would like players to agree to more "run-out" concerts - that is, concerts in the region in places an hour or two away - and musicians are balking.
For an institution that never lets you forget the good old days, musicians might take some time to research the archives. The orchestra once had an active presence in the region, with regular concerts in Baltimore and small towns across Pennsylvania. No one thought any less of them. And as recently as the 1960s, the ensemble would split itself in two to satisfy two audiences at once.
Everything old is new again. Now if someone can come up with a great idea for a Christmas album, the orchestra might recapture some of its former recording glory.
But would players agree?