Email Writing Time

Email writing time, guys. The musicians want us to email and/or call Jon Campbell and Richard Davis. Click here for details. So…you should probably do that.

For the record, here’s the email I sent:

Hello Mr. Davis – Mr. Campbell -

If you’ve been following media coverage of the Minnesota Orchestra lockout, you know exactly who I am. My writing on the lockout is read internationally, and has been cited by MPR, the Pioneer Press, and the most widely read blog in the classical music business, Slipped Disc. I unfortunately have not heard back from you, despite repeated requests to talk to you, so I contact you again. It certainly does not speak well for Wells Fargo or US Bancorp that their leaders are so unresponsive to impassioned community outcry.

Alex Ross, the critic at the New Yorker, whose words you used to trumpet on old season brochures, wrote about you the other day… http://www.therestisnoise.com/2013/05/amplification.html He is the most influential music writer in the business, and he does not lightly write something like what he writes below.

“The Minnesota Orchestra, whose musicians have been locked out since the beginning of the season, is veering toward catastrophe. A number of players have departed for other ensembles; the orchestra’s use of state funds has raised serious questions and is under review; powerful board members have created a fearful atmosphere; and, as Graydon Royce reports, Osmo Vänskä, Minnesota’s brilliant music director, is threatening to resign if the situation is not resolved soon. In his latest piece, Royce alludes to a column I wrote in 2010, in which I said, “For the duration of the evening of March 1st, the Minnesota Orchestra sounded, to my ears, like the greatest orchestra in the world.” The idea was not to issue a hard-and-fast superlative but to undercut the entire business of ranking orchestras. Still, I stand by the statement, at least as far as the musicians themselves are concerned. As for the board and the management, I am tempted to apply a superlative of a quite different kind. I’ll simply say this: do the board and management actually wish to destroy the Minnesota Orchestra? So far, their actions seem to be moving steadily toward that end.”

Until you demonstrate a renewed commitment to dialogue with both musicians and patrons, I will continue to share Mr. Ross’s views. As you are no doubt aware, not a single person in the music business supports your position. A counter-proposal is not and never has been necessary for negotiations; indeed, in November, independent industry expert Drew McManus called your insistence upon a counterproposal a “trap.” Other orchestras with more dire financial problems have agreed to submit to binding arbitration. I’d hope you’d never make a major investment, as you are asking the musicians to do, without knowing how the board and staff of the companies you invest in performs in comparison to other boards and staff (especially if said board and staff were simultaneously and independently being investigated by the state legislature for potential mis-use of funds). And despite what you have heard, the musicians are not going to cave any time soon. And even if they eventually do, by that time, there will be so many vacancies, it will take literally years to hire replacements…and good luck hiring any subs with the pay you’ve proposed. The orchestra will be comatose and paralyzed, if not liquidated altogether. This is not the teachers’ union, and you are not Scott Walker. Today you face two options: stepping away and letting others try for even a little while, or driving the orchestra – Minnesota’s orchestra – over a cliff. There are no alternatives.

If you destroy the Minnesota Orchestra, I can promise you, as a historian, that it will be a legacy that will long outlast any donations you made to the lobby. This community – in fact, this country – will never forget your names, or what happened on your watch. There would be absolutely no harm in stepping aside…or at the very very least, soliciting ideas from others about how to proceed. I urge you to consider doing so.

Emily E Hogstad

Well, that was therapeutic.

So. Write Richard Davis and Jon Campbell. They won’t reply to you, but it will feel good. Share your emails in the comment section as an inspiration to others. And if you call Davis or Campbell, do let me know who you hear from, and what you said, and what their secretaries said to you in return. Remember, be firm, but be polite. We don’t want to stoop down to other people’s level…no matter how angry we are. Best wishes in your activism…

Balancing the Scales

Hey, remember my article on ratios between endowment size and base salary? The MOA has acknowledged its conclusions!

Well, sort of.

The MOA recently sent out an email poetically entitled “What does it take to balance the scales?“

The vivid imagery of the subject line makes me want to write a haiku! “What does it take to / balance the MOA scales / sustain’bility”

The email is just the MOA’s latest attempt to bring the public round to their point of view. (Alas, the PR firm they’re paying $50,000 a year to has to earn its keep somehow.) If you’re a musician supporter and have blood pressure problems, just ignore it; it’s chockablock with misleading facts and figures, contains nothing new, and in general is just not worth your bitter impotent rage. I could address it point by point, and maybe eventually I will, but honestly I’m only one woman, I’m sick, and I’ve got better crap to do. If you have any specific questions about any of the claims, feel free to ask, and I’ll happily answer.

But there is one fascinating point that I wanted to bring to y’all’s attention…

Analysis, Withdrawn

From Minneapolis, Minnesota, the flash – apparently official – Michael Henson’s sanity died at 5pm Central Standard Time yesterday.

*takes off glasses in a dignified Cronkite-ian manner*

Yeah, the MOA suddenly decided to withdraw from financial and organizational analysis yesterday afternoon because, after months of discussion, the board couldn’t stomach the proposed terms. From this MPR article…

Orchestra President Michael Henson says the orchestra board decided to move forward on its own when the musicians insisted the scope of the analysis extend beyond simple finances.

“And unfortunately we began to see those parameters expand to include an examination of our artistic decision-making process and the quality and effectiveness of the board,” Henson said this afternoon. The board decided to move on with an analysis on narrower terms.

However musicians say management has stepped out of line. They say management and musicians had agreed to a framework for the study. Then the players say management wanted the following language inserted in the agreement. “It is understood that this financial analysis/review is not intended nor will it encompass subjective matters such as the artistic quality of the music director or the musicians, the comparative quality of other orchestras, programming decisions, performance of management or staff, or board quality/competency.”

The musicians objected to this language, and said so.

Tim Zavadil, chair of the Musicians Negotiating committee says the examining the artistic decisions, board performance and making the comparisons with other orchestras is what makes this an analysis as opposed to an audit.

He says the musicians were under the impression they were still talking about how to do the analysis and he was flabbergasted to hear management has decided to go ahead on its own instead of together with the musicians.

“That would be the best way to go, to do it jointly,” Zavadil said this afternoon. “I am sure if we did one they would say well that’s just one that the musicians did on their own. I don’t know what our response will be if they release this information.”

Okay, so here’s what I don’t get, and why I’m making the call that Mr. Henson’s sanity is dead. If management can’t agree with the musicians on terms for analysis, then why not pull out of analysis altogether? What’s the point of a unilateral analysis? Unilateral analysis won’t placate musicians. It won’t placate lawmakers. It won’t placate the public. It won’t placate board members. If anything, I’d think it might piss the board off, because they were told for months that an analysis was unnecessary: a “frolic and detour,” in the immortal words of Doug Kelley. So how are they justifying it now? The only reason I can think of is that Mr. Henson wants another wedge to insert between the board and the musicians (“look, ladies and gentlemen of the board, we did an audit and a financial analysis, and they still won’t work with us!”). But there’s such a thing as the law of diminishing returns, and there already are dozens of wedge issues. Would one more really be worth all the money they’re sinking into the analysis? Especially since the state is conducting its own audit, too? And let’s be blunt: how much further can the relationship between the board and the musicians deteriorate? What would be the use of using this issue as a wedge? – unless there are rumbles of rebellion happening behind the scenes, and some board members are pushing for the MOA to do their own analysis? But that’s a stretch. I’m racking my brains and I honestly have no explanation for what is going on here. So help me out here, clever readers: what purpose could a unilateral analysis, as opposed to a withdrawal from analysis, serve Mr. Henson? I sincerely hope I’m suffering from an acute lack of imagination, and that there’s a sensible explanation somewhere.

I think we should visit the SOTL Archives (TM) and see what the MOA has said about financial analysis in the past. Just for fun.

In response to the Union’s call for an independent audit of the Minnesota Orchestra’s finances, the MOA Negotiating Committee declined the request, citing unnecessary delay and duplication of efforts as the Orchestral Association undertakes an annual independent audit and shares its audited results publicly each December. – MOA press release, 25 September 2012

It’s as transparent as you can be, and we have done that every year, and those numbers are public. The musicians have them. If they want to do a forward-thinking analysis, the first place they’d go would be to a certified financial statement or tax returns. Those are sort of the gold standard documents in financial analysis… We have opened our books up totally. We don’t need to take another frolic and detour into something that won’t help any. – Doug Kelley, 30 November 2012

Our volunteer Board members will continue to do everything possible to remove any barrier the musicians say is standing in the way of them making a serious counterproposal that helps to address our Orchestra’s $6 million operating deficit… The Board has been eager to move forward with a joint independent financial review since we agreed to this course in January… We aim to come to a common understanding with the musicians over the significant financial challenges facing the Minnesota Orchestra, so that we can negotiate a sustainable settlement that protects the Minnesota Orchestra for the future. We hope to do this as expediently as possible in order to prevent further concert cancellations. - Minnesota Orchestral Association email blast, 1 April 2013

Well that’s awkward.

Another question: why not allow for a review that analyzes board competency or artistry of musicians or staff performance? Why are such things off-limits? It’s almost as if Mr. Henson is terrified that if anyone came in from outside the MOA bubble, he or his methods might be judged……….?

And here’s another weird thing: the musicians have been saying since November that they wanted a review that encompassed these “subjective” things. Unless he is very slow, there’s absolutely no way that Mr. Henson should have been surprised at “parameters” expanding to include “subjective” matters. These are the musicians’ words from November:

The audits that the MOA refers to are based exclusively upon the historical financial statements provided by the Association to the auditor. These reports cover statements of changes in net assets, operating activities and cash flows. In other words, an audit focuses solely on limited areas of past performance.

Audits do not cover an institution’s viability, stability, business plan, strategic plan, the quality of its management, comparative performance, or present and future prospects. A joint, independent financial analysis would review all of these things, and would assess current and future trends, opportunities and risks.

I’m not sure how much clearer you could get than this. If after reading that, Mr. Henson didn’t know that was what the musicians wanted, well… I don’t really know what to say about that. The incompetency speaks for itself.

I also think it’s worth mentioning one more thing… Six days before this announcement was made, Michael Henson was interviewed for MinnPost, where he said, “We hope very much that we can announce successfully the financial analysis this week.” As I wrote on Facebook, either he had a good idea the withdrawal was coming and chose to mislead MinnPost – or he withdrew from four months of discussion on a flighty whim – or he’s unquestioningly doing (or being forced to do) the bidding of someone else. Not sure which one of those ideas I loath the most.

Mr. Henson Talks to MinnPost

Minnesota Orchestra CEO Mr. Michael Henson, apparently emboldened by the SPCO’s recent settlement-ish-y thing, has broken a silent stretch and trotted over to MinnPost to give an interview. So let’s take a look at what he has to say!

An hour after the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra announced a tentative contract settlement with its locked-out musicians on Wednesday, Michael Henson, president of the Minnesota Orchestra, expressed cautious hope his orchestra’s locked-out musicians would respond in kind, with an offer to start negotiating a new contract.

The Minnesota Orchestra locked out 95 musicians Oct. 1 after their union rejected a proposal to reduce base salaries by 32 percent.

OK, I’m gonna stop y’all right there. The Minnesota Orchestra did not lock out 95 musicians. Want to know why? Because there weren’t 95 musicians to lock out. They’ve been moving away or retiring so quickly, Mr. Henson can’t replace them fast enough, or else he doesn’t want to; when the lockout began in October 2012, according to my calculations, there were only 81 musicians on the roster. Now there are only 77. Every month we lose more. Does Mr. Henson not know how many people are in his orchestra?

The MOA Discusses Financial Review

Some of you have asked what I know about the upcoming audit, financial review, fundraising feasibility review, etc., etc., etc. Truth is, I know nothing more than what appeared in this WCCO article…and now, an email from the MOA that a friend forwarded to me. She always passes MOA emails along because I still never get them (or letters, or phone calls), despite the fact my family’s account with the MOA is still active and all our contact info is complete and up-to-date. But whatever. Here’s the note, with some of my interjections:

Dear [Patron],

Next week will mark one full year since the Minnesota Orchestra and the Musicians’ Union began contract negotiations. Our Board put forward a contract proposal (pdf) on the first day of negotiations—in order to allow time for active debate—and 12 months later we have yet to receive a counter from the musicians. This is an unprecedented action by the Musicians’ Union. Across the nation, musicians at other orchestras have respectfully submitted counterproposals to their boards, even in challenging situations where they have been asked for significant concessions.

Editor’s Note: According to industry expert Drew McManus, a counterproposal isn’t a prerequisite for negotiations.

Another Lockout Concert!!

Today the musicians of the Minnesota Orchestra announced that they’re having another lockout concert!

All the cool kids online use reaction gifs to express their joy whenever they hear good news, so here’s one I found:

THE AUDITORIUUUUM WILL BE ALIVE, WITH THE SOUUUUND OF BRUCKNER…

Details here. Program is Bruckner and Mozart. Tickets go on sale Tuesday at noon!

Will you guys be there? Maybe we should meet up beforehand (or after). Shoot the breeze. Celebrate our connections with one another. Vent. Bond. It’s really really tough being a locked-out patron, and feeling so powerless. Might be a cathartic uplifting thing for those of us who are feeling ignored and disrespected by management. What do you guys say? Feel free to brainstorm here. Where might be a good place to meet up?

Hope to see you there!!

Guest Column, Interview, and Happy Anniversary

I wrote a guest column this week for Opine Season…

Check it out.

It’s a little piece called “The Orchestral ICU.” Hope you enjoy. Or enjoy it as much as you can within the context of your world-renowned orchestra imploding, leastways.

Speaking of which, happy six month lockout anniversary!

I also did an interview for Stubble Magazine a ways back but I don’t think I ever mentioned it here on the blog. You can read that here.

Detroit, Minnesota, and Funhouse Mirrors

Will the DSO be Michigan’s next casualty in this recession?

YES, if DSO management and board of trustees have their way.

They believe the DSO cannot survive in its current form and propose to downgrade our orchestra from its world-class stature by drastically reducing the number of musicians and performances, slashing the musicians’ compensation and benefits while imposing draconian working conditions…

We are DSO patrons, donors, subscribers, business owners and community members.

We are people who love great music and also recognize the economic value that this powerful orchestra brings to Detroit and Michigan.

We believe so strongly in preserving the essential character and tradition of this world-class orchestra that we formed the nonprofit group: Save Our Symphony (SOS).

The mission of SOS is to promote and support the world-class artistic excellence and stature of the Detroit Symphony Orchestra and to hold its management and board of trustees accountable for their fiduciary responsibilities to the public trust including the preservation of this great orchestra and its future.

Join us so your voice can be heard: please register your email with us to stay sharp on the latest updates. Thank you for your patience as we establish contact information and build our website.

***

A few weeks ago I was contacted by David Assemany, the vice president of Save Our Symphony, the audience advocacy organization that formed in the wake of the crippling 2010-2011 Detroit Symphony strike. He was curious about some figures I’d posted here on SOTL, and he said if I had any questions to contact him. Before I wrote him back, I checked the Save Our Symphony blog to read about that group’s experiences. The first entry was the one you just read.

I couldn’t scroll fast enough. I felt as though I was looking in a funhouse mirror: the reflection wasn’t perfect, but it was certainly recognizable…and it was us. There was a community caught off-guard – a group of citizen activists scrambling to learn how orchestras work – stakeholders who felt ignored, disrespected, and betrayed – musicians leaving in droves – tensions over an expensive building project – accusations that the board cared more about bricks and mortar than souls – theories about capitalism and capitalists run amok – a CEO saying wildly insensitive things – a total breakdown in communication in the triangle of board, musicians, and community. Entry after entry after entry after entry could have been written by Twin Cities music fans. Just replace Minnesota with Michigan, and voila.

It was deeply, deeply unsettling.

Politicians’ Addresses

Since Minnesota Orchestra concerts have just been canceled through April 27…

And since you’ve certainly already signed the petition asking the MOA to Play and Talk…

Want to write some letters and/or emails? I want to make it easy for you.

Some of you have lots of time that you want to devote to lockout activism. Others care deeply, but just don’t have the time. So depending on how much time you have, pick and choose individuals from this list to contact. This could be either a huge project for you, or a little one. You get to choose how much you want to take on. Bonus points if you’re a constituent of any of these guys.

Here’s a sample letter. Feel free to adapt this one or to write your own.

Dear [Politician],

I am writing to express my concern about the effects of the Minnesota Orchestra lockout. This tragedy has been devastating to countless Minnesotans, including thousands of students. If decisive action is not taken soon by our community leaders, one of our greatest cultural institutions will be destroyed.

Please do everything you can to end the lockout. Contact the parties involved (including audience advocacy group Orchestrate Excellence), apply pressure where you can, and use your position of leadership to inform your constituents about the ongoing tragedy.

There is a petition circulating at chn.ge/100cypl . It asks the Minnesota Orchestral Association to resume the season using a portion of the funds it has saved by not paying musicians since October first. Please sign and share.

Sincerely, [Your Name]

Minnesota House of Representatives - http://www.house.leg.state.mn.us/members/housemembers.asp

Minnesota Senators - http://www.senate.mn/members/index.php?ls=#header

Governor Dayton - http://mn.gov/governor/contact-us/

Mayor Rybak - http://www.minneapolismn.gov/mayor/contact/index.htm

Play and Talk Petition – Call to Action!

One of my readers – MaryAnn Goldstein, who you may recognize from the SOTL comment section – is tired of the musical gridlock in the Twin Cities, and so she started a petition asking the MOA to “Play and Talk.” You can sign it here.

Here’s what she wrote:

Since October 1, 2012, the Minnesota Orchestra Association (MOA) has locked out the Musicians of the Minnesota Orchestra, cancelling concerts and educational programs, putting our renowned orchestra, its musicians (who have now begun leaving) and our cultural quality of life in peril. Tens of thousands of Minnesota citizens, including thousands of students, have been negatively impacted by the silence. Michael Henson, MN Orchestra CEO and President, has claimed that the MOA saves over $500,000/ month by locking out the musicians, so at this point, the MOA should have more than enough funds to pay the musicians for the remaining 3 months of the 2012-13 season. As a non-profit organization that receives funding from patrons and the State, the Minnesota Orchestra belongs to the people of Minnesota as well as the Board. Therefore, as music lovers, dedicated music educators, and students who value and miss our world-class, Grammy nominated Minnesota Orchestra, we, the undersigned, ask that the MOA and Board hear our collective voice and reinstate the Minnesota Orchestra 2012-13 season while continuing negotiations with orchestra musicians.

Will this make a difference? I don’t know. (To be brutally honest with you, probably not.) But even if the MOA turns our pleas down, the petition accomplishes several hugely important things:

• it reminds people of the costs of this ongoing conflict;
• it gives people a sense of ownership in the outcome; and
• it presents a positive plausible win-win proposal that everyone should be able to get behind.

Also:

• it can’t hurt.

For those reasons alone, I’d recommend sauntering over to the petition and signing it. And please leave a sentence or two describing why play and talk is important to you.

***

Change.org has several suggestions of how to make petitions count.

• Share the petition with friends and family.
• Share your petition on Facebook.
• Ask people to “like” your Facebook status update about the petition.
• Tweet about the petition.
• Post to your own blog.
• Post as a comment in other relevant blogs.
• Find allies and ask them to sign. In our case, this might consist of music teachers, politicians, business leaders, MOA board members, or other prominent local figures who have a vested interest in the Minnesota Orchestra playing again.
• If you have any other suggestions, leave them in the comment section. Go wild with the brainstorming.

So many of you have asked me “what can I do to help?” And to be honest, I’ve never had a good answer for you besides “don’t stop caring.” But here, finally, is a concrete thing you can do. Sign the petition and spread it. Think of three or five people who you know would be interested, and contact them and ask them to consider signing.

I’m in touch with MaryAnn, and she’ll let me know what’s going on re: the petition. (Brava to her for taking initiative!) You can also follow this Facebook page for updates: “Petition to Ask the Minnesota Orchestra to Play and Talk.” Right now there are plans forming about the delivery of the petition to the MOA, so stay tuned.