MichiganRadio

Detroit Symphony Orchestra strike: An update ANN ARBOR, MI (Michigan Radio) - It's been almost a month since the Detroit Symphony Orchestra went on strike. Concerts at Orchestra Hall have been canceled through November 7th, and more cancellations are likely since no new contract talks have been scheduled.

Tim Murphy and his wife, Claire, went to see a sold-out concert by the striking musicians. Murphy says he's not taking sides in the disagreement, but he says something has to be done, fast.

"This is a world class orchestra, and people on this level have to get paid and they have to recognize that this is a jewel. It's an investment, and once it's gone, it's gone, because these people will move away, find other positions, and then this orchestra will no longer have that cache they've had for all these years."

Right now, the DSO is one of the top ten orchestras in the country, but it's a top ten orchestra with a multi-million dollar budget deficit. So, to stay afloat, cuts need to be made. At least that much the two sides agree on.

The musicians proposed a 22 percent pay cut that would gradually be restored. Management wants to cut current players salaries by a third, new players' salaries by 42 percent, eliminate tenure, reduce the size of the orchestra, and require the players to teach and perform outside of the regularly scheduled concert season.

Haden McKay is a cellist for the DSO, and he says "it's probably the most extreme attack that's ever been made on an orchestra in the United States."

Mackay has played with the orchestra for 27 years, and he says the cuts management proposed would irreparably harm the quality of the orchestra.

"It seems that our management is trying to make an example of the Detroit Symphony as to how an American orchestra in a time of crisis, which may or may not be just a convenient reason, can be completely reshaped," says McKay. He adds that orchestras around the country are watching to see what happens.

DSO president Anne Parsons wouldn't agree to be interviewed for the story. One member of management that would talk is Gloria Heppner. She's on the board of the DSO and even she doesn't think management's proposal is viable.

"Not if one wants to maintain a top tier orchestra it isn't," explains Heppner. "I mean, we're fighting for the maintenance of a first class orchestra. We could have a community orchestra, but that, believe me, is not what this is about."

To better understand how the DSO got to this point, I caught at a coffee shop with University of Michigan music historian Mark Clague. He says orchestras are classic nonprofit institutions:

"They don't pay their bills by their own activities, so their revenues do not cover their costs. So every time they put on a concert they lose money."

Clague says that means orchestras need good fundraising strategies. But several years ago the DSO cut its development staff way down to save money, and instead of trying to expand their donor base, they focused on raising a lot of money from a small number of donors.

Then there's General Motors and Chrysler. The two companies used to sponsor series and education programs, but can't afford to so anymore.

The DSO also built a multi-million dollar addition to Orchestra Hall and used the interest on their endowment to pay the mortgage. But the endowment took a huge hit in the recession, so to pay off the mortgage interest, Clague says "you now have to cut into the principal of the endowment, so that endowment is now eroding."

Clague says the solution most people hope for is some sort of angel donor who "would come in and fix this basically budget imbalance."

It's not unheard of. An angel donor swept in and donated $85 million to save the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra last year. And in 1951, an heir to a Detroit chemical company fortune came up with a plan to save the DSO after it had been dark for three years.

Contact Jennifer Guerra at guerraj@umich.edu

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