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ATL SYMPHONY MUSICIANS

The Quotable WAC | September 28, 2014

9/29/2014

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trudgemusic the view from stage left
The Quotable WAC Posted on September 28, 2014 | Leave a comment

A few gems from the Woodruff Arts Center Leadership:

“We must make sure the management structure is as efficient as it needs to be without compromising the artistic direction at each of the divisions…The Woodruff Arts Center board has no business telling Robert Spano about the musical direction of the symphony.” – Larry Gellerstedt, Chair, Woodruff Arts Center Board of Trustees, in an interview with Maria Saporta of the Atlanta Business Chronicle, June 2012

Fast-forward:
Mr. Spano said he was troubled by a provision in the latest management proposal that would give it discretion over whether to fill positions, which could further shrink the ensemble. – New York Times, Sept. 2014

…It was important for Hepner and her board to not make “the symphony a scapegoat for everything that’s wrong” at the [Woodruff Arts] Center. “I think it’s easy for everything to get blamed on the symphony,” she said. “But there are other issues.”  – Penny McPhee, President of the Arthur Blank Family Foundation, in an interview with Maria Saporta of the Atlanta Business Chronicle, June 2012

Easy to blame everything on the Symphony. Hmmm…

“We all have a real desire to grow the collective audience in Atlanta and the region and the state. There’s more to do,” Hepner said. “But I can tell you, it will be a lot more fun to grow the organization.” – Virginia Hepner, President and CEO, Woodruff Arts Center, in an interview with Maria Saporta of the Atlanta Business Chronicle, June 2012

(Apparently, “growing the organization” means rewarding management failure with large bonuses.)

“We’ll never sacrifice the quality of the art…To me, it’s all about artistic excellence and access…My personal thrill would be that everybody in the community got to see what we do.” Virginia Hepner, in an interview with WABE Radio, Aug. 2012

Fast-forward:
“The lockout is essentially the board and management punishing the orchestra… It’s a one-sided attempt to force the orchestra to its collective knees. It also paints the orchestra as this intransigent group of musicians. But in fact they have shown extraordinary willingness to come to a common agreement, as what happened two years ago proves. The fact that it should have come to a lockout again is simply devastating.” – ASO Principal Guest Conductor Donald Runnicles, in an interview with the Guardian UK, Sept. 2014

Atlanta Magazine: You also have to keep the artists happy, an issue that got attention from the ASO musicians strike. [Note: The 2012 event the interviewer refers to WAS NOT A STRIKE. It was a unilateral, management-imposed LOCKOUT. Apparently, Ms. Hepner did nothing to correct or clarify the important distinction for the interviewer or the readers.] 
Virginia Hepner: “The symphony is very well-run. We want it to be a world-class orchestra…that is extremely expensive… the symphony was $20 million in debt. We couldn’t find any more ways to go without asking the musicians to participate. And I really appreciate the fact that they did. It was essential to ensuring that we have a symphony in the future.”
“I’m a huge Atlanta fan, and I believe we can do anything we set our minds to. I’m pretty optimistic. I have to be; I work in the arts.” – Atlanta Magazine interview with Virginia Hepner, Dec. 2012

“Very well-run.” Really? REALLY? 

“I tell my colleagues here, the most important thing for me to do is bring resources so that they can fulfill their artistic vision.”  – Virginia Hepner, in an interview with Atlanta Business Chronicle, March 2013

(I don’t remember ever hearing this from her, but, then again, we really aren’t “colleagues” since you locked us out…)

“If you are comfortable with the people you hire, you have to let them do their job.”  – Doug Hertz, Chairman of WAC Board of Governors, in a interview with Barbara Kaufman of the Atlanta Business Chronicle, May 2013

Thank you, Mr. Chairman, I would like very much to do my job now.

“I learned a long time ago that everybody’s replaceable.”
“I’ve never seen a for-profit business get more out of an investment than artists do—they’re so creative in terms of how they produce what they do with minimal investment.” – Virginia Hepner, in an interview with GA Center for Nonprofits, Winter 2013

In Ms. Hepner’s defense, when she mentioned being “replaceable” she was apparently referring to some hypothetical future situation in which she herself might be replaced.  Can we pencil in a date for that one?
As for “minimal investment,” how minimally should anyone invest in the ASO? Way to encourage philanthropy!


“I think that the measure of both an individual and somebody representing a company is, in fact, the relationships that we have. Because you’re not going to have long-term relationships unless you’ve built up a trust. And that’s a trust with your customers, a trust with your suppliers, and frankly, a trust with your associates.” – Doug Hertz, Chairman of the WAC Board of Governors, in a promotional video for United Distributors, March 2014

So, is the reason you’ve locked us out because you don’t trust us? Or should we not trust you, since you apparently aren’t interested in a long-term relationship?

Keep those gems coming, WAC! We’re listening!


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A DEAFENING SILENCE | SEPTEMBER 25, 2014 7:00PM

9/28/2014

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“A DEAFENING SILENCE”

Mr. Spano lamented that “our brilliant and creative musicians, who need to be intimately involved in the creation of our path to the future,
have been asked to leave the building — and Atlanta is left with a deafening silence.”

Please join us on Thursday, September 25, 2014 for “A Deafening Silence” on the ASO’s 70th Anniversary Opening Night.

We invite you to join us:

• The Atlanta Symphony Orchestra Chorus
• Current and Former Members of the
Atlanta Symphony Youth Orchestra
• Current and Former Members of the
Talent Development Program
• Patrons, our Audiences, and Supporters of your Atlanta Symphony Orchestra

When: Gather at 7:10PM (We are asking for about 45 minutes of your time.)

Gather: Outside of the First Church of Christ, Scientist
on 15th Street and Peachtree Street (Across from the Woodruff Arts Center)

Dress: Evening Concert Attire for Musicians and Chorus

Bring: Musicians and Students – Either your instruments or cases

The ATL Symphony Musicians
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Atlanta Symphony In Desperate Ploy | September 23, 2014

9/25/2014

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by Norman Lebrecht

The orchestra has published what purports to be its negotiating position, beside that of the musicians.

However, the table below represents the musicians’ starting position, not the compromises they had offered at the point they were shut out. It is, therefore, a willful distortion – indicative of a company that has lost the capacity for reasoned thought and discussion.
What's On The Table
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Board Member Criticizes Lockout, Resigns In Protest | September 22, 2014

9/23/2014

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News: ASO postpones start of the season; board member criticizes lockout, resigns in protest | September 22, 2014 ArtsATL.com
Criticism of the Woodruff Arts Center (WAC), the ASO’s parent company, is mounting. On Monday, a former ASO board member, Ron Antinori, told ArtsATL that he stepped down from his position last week, saying he felt powerless and had come to the conclusion he could do more to resolve the current standoff as an adviser for the musicians.

Spano and Runnicles, right, have expressed concerns about the ASO’s artistic future.

“I didn’t feel that my voice and my opinions as a board member had much of an effect on what was happening,” Antinori said, noting that he did not know that management was planning to lock musicians out until just two days before the deadline for contract negotiations. “I am not privy to what WAC’s motivation is. That’s the elephant in the room. All I know is what I’ve heard: ‘We need to balance the budget.’ Am I suspicious? I honestly just don’t know. There does seem to be a mentality of ‘We don’t care if we destroy the orchestra as long as we balance the budget.’”

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The opening of the orchestra’s 70th season is on hold. (Photo by Jeff Roffman)
Full Article
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Preemptively Cancelling concerts | September 22, 2014

9/23/2014

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Preemptively Cancelling Concerts
So you want to cancel the concerts, and keep the cash, too? Really? Do I have to explain how embarrassingly inappropriate this is?

* * *

Well, the die is cast. By preemptively cancelling its first few months of programming, the ASO has removed any incentive for the musicians to negotiate in the short-term. From my perspective, the ASO has also alienated and tried to shake down its ticket-buyers. Coupled with its tone-deaf public relations campaign of the last two weeks, and I have to say I’m astonished… and not in a good way.

My short answer to Romanstein is that I don’t believe you regret this plan of action at all. Instead of a last resort, this feels like this is a first resort for you—a clearly defined “starve-them-out” strategy to break the union as swiftly as possible, regardless of the collateral damage.

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Mask of the Flower Prince The nonsensical ravings of a singing archaeologist. Really.
Full Article
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ASYO lockout postpones youth auditions | September 20, 2014

9/23/2014

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ASYO lockout postpones youth auditions

Emails with the new s went out this week to hopeful musicians.

This was to be Rachel Anders’ season. For months, the McIntosh High School junior had practiced her flute daily so she would be ready for auditions for the Atlanta Symphony Youth Orchestra.

Then she got the email earlier this week: The auditions, scheduled for Sunday, were postponed.

The auditions, for which hundreds of young people had been preparing, are a casualty of the feud between musicians in the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra and the organization’s management. The area’s premier youth orchestra may not begin its season on time, if at all.

After both sides in the adult orchestra dispute could not agree on a new contract, the orchestra’s management locked out the musicians on Sept. 6. The musicians, who also judge the youth orchestra’s auditions, were unavailable to gauge the quality of this year’s ASYO contestants. More than 400 had signed up for the auditions.

Paul Murphy, an ASO viola player and president of the [Atlanta Symphony Orchestra Players Association], blames the orchestra’s managers for the postponed auditions.

“Along with providing great music and inspiration for all of Atlanta, we relish and take equally serious our roles as teachers, mentors, and coaches to our young musicians,” he wrote in an email, “and we are heartbroken that we are unable to work with them as a direct result of the WAC/ASO’s refusal to extend negotiations and subsequently locking us out.”
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Rachel Anders hoped to audition Sunday for the Atlanta Symphony Youth Orchestra. Those auditions were postponed because the orchestra and its musicians have not agreed on a contract.
Full Article
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Why the ASO may be a lame duck | September 19, 2014

9/23/2014

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Scratching the surface of a 990: Why the ASO may be a lame duck | by Kevin Robison composer/aranger
September 19, 2014
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Who is brave enough to open the books?

I think the WAC has some questions to answer, and in all fairness, there very well may be solid answers; but they will be buried deep in books that the public doesn’t have access to, at least not without a fight.

From a distance, it appears that if the WAC truly wanted to maintain a world-class symphony, it could find $2M a year from it’s $103M in unrestricted assets. Surely with $300M in gross receipts, there is a way to budget at the WAC without asking its symphony players to pay part of their healthcare and to give ultimate control of the number of players to Mr. Romanstein, which is a ruse intended to further reduce the orchestra size.

All this makes me wonder why the ASO board isn’t standing up for itself. Is it a WAC puppet? Does the board not question how the WAC distributes general contributions it receives? Do its members not realize that they will walk away from a failed symphony because they didn’t stand up to the almighty WAC? Perhaps the ASO board feels like a lame duck in this. After all, its president is taking his cues from somewhere else. As is clarified by the 990, Mr. Romanstein works for the WAC, not the ASO.

Kevin Robison
Conductor, Composer, Arranger and all-around unhappy Atlantan right now.

Full Article
WAC 2013 990
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ATLANTA: Good or Bad | September 18, 2014

9/23/2014

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Atlanta: Good or Bad – Financial health should not be a surprise – Inclusiveness is vital, so stage a Lock In! | September 18, 2014
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The foundational problem is that musicians are not  being asked nearly enough to play a part in the building and sustaining of their orchestra.  A good CEO/leader/board should have nothing they need to hide or fear, and should always look for ways to involve everyone in the ongoing process so that when trouble is brewing, a unified organization is actively problem solving and coming up with ideas, plans and action steps together and ahead of time instead of fighting each other when catastrophe strikes and it’s too late.

This is not just for bad times, it is just as important in times of health also, because then we are building a model for FUTURE success for when times are not so good.  Part of the structure should be inclusiveness in the process.  Self inflicted wounds are the hardest to recover from, because it seriously erodes public trust, and we look like too risky of an investment when they start paying attention to what is happening behind the curtain and worse when it spills into the streets.

What should come out of an agreement should not just be contract terms, but also a future prevention plan that will involve all stakeholders. Don’t lock musicians out, lock them in (figuratively speaking of course) and work out a plan.  They are your lifeblood and the smartest and most committed people in your organization, who by the very fact that they turn over every 30 or so years when managements turn over in only about 7 years on average means that they have the most to lose and therefore will be the group that thinks long term solutions over quick fix band aids.  Especially in Atlanta they have proven that they are willing to make concessions, so to treat them with such callousness is proof that debate has been replaced with destruction and ignorance.  Is this a plan for future prosperity?  One place they are getting this right is in Tulsa (I have a long term association with them) where it is joy to see their development out of bankruptcy as a truly stakeholder driven organization.  Read about their model here

We need activism, not “reactivism” and Atlanta needs it now!  Open the doors and let them help fix things, you will be surprised just how they will continue to be reasonable while the public enjoys their artistry and passion.

Full Article
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ASO's crisis matters for orchestras everywhere THE GUARDIAN | September 18, 2014

9/23/2014

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Atlanta Symphony Orchestra's crisis matters for orchestras everywhere | Posted by Tom Service Thursday 18 September 2014 13.09 EDT theguardian.com
But there is yet another complicating factor, which is that the Atlanta Symphony is not an independent outfit, but part of a bigger organisation, the Woodruff Arts Centre, whose CEO Virginia Hepner has said that the ASO’s deficit is unsustainable (proof, surely, that Romanstein has failed to raise enough money for the orchestra’s coffers, despite the previous negotiations). She also offered the observation, when asked whether the city could afford the ASO: “It’s up to anyone to decide what is world-class and what an orchestra should be.” Well no it’s not, actually; the players and conductors probably have a better idea of that than Hepner seems to …

So why does all this matter? Aside from the fact that Atlanta could be on the road to the orchestral hell that the Minnesota Orchestra endured during a 16-month lockout, there is the fact that the ASO’s special performing traditions are threatened (listen to their latest release of Vaughan Williams to see what I mean), that two of the strongest and most artistically profitable conductor-orchestra relationships could dissolve, and that an international audience will miss what the ASO and its chorus have achieved together – to say nothing of what Atlantans will feel about the loss of what is arguably the cultural jewel in their crown. The betrayal of Shaw’s legacy must not be allowed to continue: Atlanta’s lockout is just as serious – if not more so – than Minnesota’s for classical music in the US and beyond.
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It breaks my heart’ … Donald Runnicles conducts the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra. Photograph: Chris Christodoulou/BBC
Full Article
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ASO/WAC On The AFM International Unfair List

9/23/2014

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http://www.afm.org/about/international-unfair-list

GEORGIA
Robert W. Woodruff Arts Center
Placed at the request of Local 148-462, Atlanta, GA

Atlanta Symphony Orchestra dba ASO Presents
Placed at the request of Local 148-462, Atlanta, GA

Atlanta Symphony Orchestra
Placed at the request of Local 148-462, Atlanta, GA
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