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.

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.’”

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.

Scratching the surface of a 990: Why the ASO may be a lame duck | by Kevin Robison composer/aranger
September 19, 2014

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.

Atlanta: Good or Bad – Financial health should not be a surprise – Inclusiveness is vital, so stage a Lock In! | September 18, 2014

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.

Atlanta Symphony Orchestra's crisis matters for orchestras everywhere | Posted by Tom Service Thursday 18 September 2014 13.09 EDT theguardian.com

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

News: As ASO lockout enters its second week with no end in sight, key issues come into focus | September 15, 2014 by Jenny Jarvie ArtsATL.com

The “New Low” Just Got Worse | Posted on September 16, 2014

Is it just possible that the ASO was quietly making claims to aggrieved parents that it knew would never stand up to public scrutiny?

And further, the official press release implies that the ASO musicians would not participate because the AFM asked them not to. It doesn’t, however, make any mention of the fact that the ASO management not only locked the musicians out and stopped their pay, but deactivated their security clearance to enter the building.  In the ASO’s reckoning, the musicians are not even active employees. And it’s still blaming the AFM for the musicians’ lack of participation in the auditions?

All in all, a very interesting turn of events. Perhaps the ASO management would care to comment?