Philadelphia Orchestra on strike; gala concert canceled

Philly.com ^ | SEPTEMBER 30, 2016 | Peter Dobrin

[Enchante]

The Fabulous Philadelphians are on strike.

Friday night, a crowd of about 1,000 sat in Verizon Hall waiting for the orchestra to appear for the scheduled start of the Opening Night Gala.

But no Philadelphia Orchestra appeared on stage. Unbeknownst to most in the audience, the 96 musicians and two librarians belonging to American Federation of Musicians Local 77 had decided to go out on strike about an hour before curtain time.

Finally, about 20 minutes after the scheduled start, orchestra president Allison B. Vulgamore came out on stage to say that no labor agreement was in place for "one of the world's greatest orchestras, if not the greatest," and the performance would not happen.

Last-minute efforts to save the concert were launched backstage. Both sides tried to hammer out an agreement even well after the 7 p.m. curtain time, but those talks failed.

When the entire audience had filed out, musicians came out from backstage into the lobby of the Kimmel Center carrying picket signs. Audience members applauded and cheered them, while several philanthropists and members of local arts boards booed.

[Ace's Dad]

the "paid the price"

Unless I missed it, the members of the orchestra wouldn't get paid if they didn't play.

[JoeProBono]

[IllumiNaughtyByNature]

Audience members applauded and cheered them, while several philanthropists and members of local arts boards booed.

Would be interesting to find out if the ones who cheered are going to pick up the financial slack made by the ones who booed?

[Ann Archy]

Why the HELL would anyone CLAP after they paid a ton of money for the tickets???

Liberalism IS a MENTAL DISORDER!!

[real saxophonist]

I missed out on a couple of gigs because I refused to join the Union.

[sphinx]

Of course the musicians have a right to strike, but to walk out when a paying audience has already filled the concert hall is stupid -- especially on a gala night when the audience is heavy on major donors. Did management and the union think they had a deal, and something blew up at the last minute? Who was playing chicken?

Then there is the question: who is really paying the musicians' salaries? What are the revenue sources of the Philadelphia orchestra? The most recent financials I could find online are for 2014. Contributions and grants are roughly double performance income. The orchestra runs a substantial deficit on performances; the donor class keeps it alive.

Maybe management should suggest that orchestra members put in 20 hours a week as street musicians, to help directly with the panhandling. The truth is, the orchestra's fundraisers generate twice as much income as do the musicians. I wonder if the pay scales are commensurate.

[IronJack]

So the show mustn’t necessarily go on ...

[IronJack]

The Minnesota Orchestra had a similar strike a few years ago. They’re still begging for donations and ticket sales. And all this from people who get paid $120,000 a year to toot a flute.

[Albion Wilde]

FYI - the Kimmel Center:

[Enchante]

They could have played this one concert, since the hall was already filled with many of their most loyal subscribers and donors. They could have announced, “after tonight we are on strike.”. I lost all sympathy when I saw that they treated their most loyal supporters so badly. Screw them.