Posted by Mike Sanders on May 29, 2001 at 21:49:59:
In Reply to: A nice symphony story posted by James Tyler on May 25, 2001 at 20:58:01:
There is more than meets the eye here and one should not be quite so quick to call this a "nice situation", as "anon" has pointed out. There was a very detailed article concerning the situation in the RSO in the most recent ICSOM Journal. Apparantly this offer came as a complete surprise to the musicians. There had been a long range planning comittee or task force (whatever they called it in Richmond) that had made a study (that went on for several years) of the institutions future needs for success and this retirement offer came out of the blue. Many of the musicians feel betrayed. Many others don't know what to do. They have given their best for many years to the RSO and are being asked to chose, for some, between early retirement on a one time offer, or to continue under an uncertain future. They have family concerns for their own personal lives now and in the future. As a middle-aged rank & file orchestral player with approx. 30 years under my belt I can only begin to imagine the turmoil this has created in a number of personal lives. I do not intend to speek as an authority on this matter and am basing what I have written on the article I read. I do know that if a similar situation were to occur here in St. Louis there would be a tremendous uproar in the orchestra as well as the community. I hope someone closer to the situation will chime in on this one. These are our collegues we are talking about.