Posted by d on January 25, 2003 at 20:54:58:
In Reply to: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Houston Symphony Cutting Jobs, Salaries posted by Jay Bertolet on January 25, 2003 at 00:05:32:
Most of you, in my opinion, have missed the real point.
While there is an argument going on about whether or not the musicians are responsible or not, that is a totally side argument to the situation at hand.
A symphony orchestra is a business and should be run as one, period. Many are not. The ones that are, continue in business and those that aren't have problems. It's just my opinion that it is the management and the board of directors responsibility. The musicians are the employees (forget about calling them artists) and are treated as such.
Once blame is placed and no responsibility taken by anyone, the whole thing will only get worse. Employees blame management and management blames employees. No one takes responsibility.
Here are some questions for those of you in orchestras: How much input does the orchestra put forth to make the situation get better? Do they put on un-paid benefit concerts to raise funds? Do they do community outreach concerts at little or no cost to raise awareness? Or do they expect to be paid for all services?