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The sounds of silence As the MSO strike winds on, it's time to ask hard questions about how the orchestra is run Paul Globus The Gazette August 14, 2005 The Montreal Symphony Orchestra is arguably the jewel in the crown of Montreal's vibrant cultural life. Yet it is not immune to labour unrest. The musicians, members of the American Federation of Musicians, have been trying to obtain a new collective agreement since the last one expired in 2002. Negotiations have proceeded on and off for more than three years. At first, the musicians had few demands. Principally, they wanted to be paid as much as their colleagues in other leading orchestras. Often ranked among the top 15 orchestras in North America, the MSO comes in 34th in pay scales. The MSO musicians are paid less than musicians in the Toronto Symphony Orchestra or Ottawa's National Arts Centre Orchestra, even though the MSO, with its internationally acclaimed catalogue of 90 recordings, is widely considered Canada's top orchestra. What is the problem? Why did the musicians go on strike at the end of May? It comes down to the very tough line adopted by the orchestra's management. In the early going there was no hint of the rancour to come. At a luncheon in October 2002, MSO general manager Madeleine Careau told a musicians' committee that, apart from minor clauses related to touring, the working conditions spelled out in the old collective agreement were acceptable. Then came a reversal. In January 2004, Careau's four-member negotiating team said it wanted to modify nearly 90 clauses in the old agreement. The rationale was "flexibility." This, according to the musicians, was a euphemism for cutting costs at their expense. In essence, they were being asked to do more for less. But a bigger issue than money was the effect that the proposed changes would have on their ability to continue performing at world standards and to attract the best talent to replenish their ranks. Many felt the new conditions would leave the orchestra badly compromised. Suddenly, the musicians were scrambling just to hold on to conquered ground. A mediator was called in. After more than a year of delays and no real movement across the negotiating table, a strike was called. Lost in this squabble about pay parity and cost reduction is the revenue side of the balance sheet. The assumption is that management is doing all it can to "market" the artistic product and generate revenues. The numbers, however, tell a different story. Most North American orchestras generate "earned income" from individual concert ticket sales, series subscriptions, recordings and corporate sponsorships. According to the Organization of Canadian Symphony Musicians, earned income was 28 per cent of the MSO's budget in 2004-05. This includes about $400,000 in interest from an $8- million endowment fund. Contrast that with the Toronto Symphony Orchestra, where earned income during the same period, not including endowment-fund interest, was 49 per cent of the budget. True, Toronto has a slightly bigger population base. But industry sources say Quebec accounts for more than 50 per cent of Canada's classical-music CD sales. Thus, if anything, Montreal has a bigger pool of concert goers and the MSO should have an easier time generating earned income than does the TSO. While all this is shocking enough, when we consider that the MSO lagged far behind nearly every major symphony orchestra in Canada on this basis in 2004-05, the problem jumps into bold relief. Why is the MSO turning in such a poor earned-income performance? Management complacency might be the answer. Approximately 50 per cent of the MSO's budget, or $8 million, comes from government grants. For the TSO, it's 20 per cent, or $4 million. With its significant government support, MSO management might be less inclined to crack the whip in the front office. It might set lower sales targets and have lower expectations. No one should be surprised by the results. How management chooses to market the orchestra might also be a factor in its inability to generate more revenue. Mirroring the world of popular music, virtually the entire emphasis in promotion and advertising is on the "stars" - the conductor and guest artists. The supreme world-class quality of the ensemble is barely mentioned. Like all the great North American and European orchestras, the 92 musicians who make up the MSO are most of what the enterprise is about, and they exist independently of any conductor or soloist. Yet management treats them like the classical equivalent of a pick-up band. Rather than look for ways to sharpen its selling skills or set higher targets for earned income, management seems entirely focused on containing costs by cutting musician costs. And the board of directors seems to buy into the argument that "fiscal discipline" justifies forcing the musicians to acquiesce to all of management's salary and working-condition demands. Not that there's anything wrong with fiscal discipline in tough times. But we're talking about a truly great orchestra, one of the finest ensembles of its kind in the world, and the musicians cannot be asked to bear the full brunt of the austerity measures. Yet this is what is happening. MSO musicians have agreed to seven pay freezes since 1991. Management is coy when asked if administrative staffers have been subject to the same wage freezes. It remains mute on the number of new front-office staffers hired since 1991 and what specific measures it is taking to contain administrative costs. With Madeleine Careau now threatening to cancel the 2005-06 season unless the musicians give in, it's time for a reality check. All Montrealers who care about their city's cultural institutions need to ask themselves if both sides in this dispute are living up to their responsibilities. The MSO's 92 instrumentalists are holding up their end of the bargain as they continue to turn out a world class musical product of the highest artistic value. The new maestro, Kent Nagano, is on record about the superb quality of the orchestra, only the latest in a long series of encomiums that do the musicians and our city proud. Is management matching that effort by doing everything possible to maximize revenues and contain administrative costs? Hardly. The front office of the MSO needs to emulate other Canadian orchestras and begin marketing its marvellous ensemble more diligently, creatively and effectively. Until that happens, the sound of silence coming from the Place des Arts will continue to be deafening. ------------------- Paul Globus is a Montreal writer and musician who played with the MSO in the 1960s.