ArtsWatch

After reading your Inquirer report, It sounds to me that a main stumbling block between Mr. Undercoffler and the board concerned orchestra contract givebacks. He had negotiated a contract without a strike and had established a sense of detente and optimism. Economics has intervened and I sense even the present board is in a quandry on how to address the situation. Welcome to the real world. Mayor Nutter is in the same bind and will have to consider givebacks or wage freezes for police, fire and white collar workers.

Cutting musicians salaries should be among the last thing management does to balance the budget. How can you best recruit new players if other orchestras can offer musicians more money?

How about cutting the number of tours and free concerts for a few years, and trying to get the money donated for those activities to go towards covering the Orchestra's regular operating expenses?

The argument of don't cut musician salaries because an orchestra won't be able to recruit the "best new players" is officially tired and absurd. Part of the reason for all of the economic turmoil in the arts is due to greed: executive greed, artist greed, and the greed of the unions. According to the orchestra's recent tax form 990, the five highest musicians earned: $335,000; $239,000; $225,000; $220,000; and $209,000. The music director earned $1,586,000. The five highest paid executives earned $278,000; $161,000; $181,000; $166,000; and $147,000. And we wonder why the "non profit" arts are in trouble.