Lockout exposes rift between ASO and Woodruff board members over direction | October 3, 2014 By Jenny Jarvie
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Ever since Atlanta Symphony Orchestra musicians were locked out of Symphony Hall a month ago after failing to agree with management over the terms of a new collective bargaining agreement, critics have wondered who is calling the shots.
While ASO president and CEO Stanley Romanstein, who resigned last week, bore the brunt of musicians’ and the public’s ire, many have suspected his moves were dictated by the orchestra’s parent company, the Woodruff Arts Center (WAC).
Criticism of the WAC is now mounting as the stalemate between musicians and management reaches its second month. In an interview with ArtsATL, a longstanding ASO board member voiced his anguish at the WAC’s “takeover” of the orchestra, claiming WAC officials seemed more interested in balancing the budget than maintaining the ASO’s reputation as a world-class ensemble.
“I am very disappointed to see the Woodruff Arts Center so glibly and so willingly allow the quality and prestige of the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra to go down the tubes,” said Dr. John W. Cooledge, a retired pediatrician who joined the ASO board in 1976 and now serves on the board of counselors, an advisory tier of the body. “Right now the feeling of the symphony board is frustration and anger and sadness. The ASO board no longer seems to have any power,” Cooledge said, noting that he had very little input in the lockout negotiations. “WAC is calling all the shots.”
The makeup of the ASO board has evolved over the years, Cooledge said. In 1976, when Cooledge joined the board, he said it consisted largely of ardent music lovers, “people who knew each other and worked in harmony.” Now it comprises corporate executives from Atlanta’s leading businesses: Delta Airlines, Coca-Cola, King & Spalding, Alston & Bird, Verizon Wireless, the Atlanta Hawks and Philips Arena.
“There was some lamenting a few years ago that some people were taking positions on the board primarily to put on their resumes,” Cooledge said.
While he acknowledged that the ASO board could have been proactive in asserting control — or, as he put it, “preventing a final takeover” — he said there had never, until recently, been any clear realization that WAC could move the orchestra into a second-rate organization.
“We thought the WAC was acting in the best interest of all its divisions,” he said. “We were caught napping.”
While there has been some discussion among board members, Cooledge said, that ASO separate from WAC and become an independent entity, the consensus is that there is no easy way out. The WAC has complete control of the symphony’s endowment. “I’m pessimistic about finding an easy solution,” Cooledge said. “We’ve sold ourselves to Woodruff.”
Full Article
Ever since Atlanta Symphony Orchestra musicians were locked out of Symphony Hall a month ago after failing to agree with management over the terms of a new collective bargaining agreement, critics have wondered who is calling the shots.
While ASO president and CEO Stanley Romanstein, who resigned last week, bore the brunt of musicians’ and the public’s ire, many have suspected his moves were dictated by the orchestra’s parent company, the Woodruff Arts Center (WAC).
Criticism of the WAC is now mounting as the stalemate between musicians and management reaches its second month. In an interview with ArtsATL, a longstanding ASO board member voiced his anguish at the WAC’s “takeover” of the orchestra, claiming WAC officials seemed more interested in balancing the budget than maintaining the ASO’s reputation as a world-class ensemble.
“I am very disappointed to see the Woodruff Arts Center so glibly and so willingly allow the quality and prestige of the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra to go down the tubes,” said Dr. John W. Cooledge, a retired pediatrician who joined the ASO board in 1976 and now serves on the board of counselors, an advisory tier of the body. “Right now the feeling of the symphony board is frustration and anger and sadness. The ASO board no longer seems to have any power,” Cooledge said, noting that he had very little input in the lockout negotiations. “WAC is calling all the shots.”
The makeup of the ASO board has evolved over the years, Cooledge said. In 1976, when Cooledge joined the board, he said it consisted largely of ardent music lovers, “people who knew each other and worked in harmony.” Now it comprises corporate executives from Atlanta’s leading businesses: Delta Airlines, Coca-Cola, King & Spalding, Alston & Bird, Verizon Wireless, the Atlanta Hawks and Philips Arena.
“There was some lamenting a few years ago that some people were taking positions on the board primarily to put on their resumes,” Cooledge said.
While he acknowledged that the ASO board could have been proactive in asserting control — or, as he put it, “preventing a final takeover” — he said there had never, until recently, been any clear realization that WAC could move the orchestra into a second-rate organization.
“We thought the WAC was acting in the best interest of all its divisions,” he said. “We were caught napping.”
While there has been some discussion among board members, Cooledge said, that ASO separate from WAC and become an independent entity, the consensus is that there is no easy way out. The WAC has complete control of the symphony’s endowment. “I’m pessimistic about finding an easy solution,” Cooledge said. “We’ve sold ourselves to Woodruff.”