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.