Re: Florida Philharmonic Orchestra Strike


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Posted by Steve Dedman on October 23, 2000 at 20:31:19:

In Reply to: Florida Philharmonic Orchestra Strike posted by Jay Bertolet on October 20, 2000 at 21:22:38:

Jay,

Best of luck to you and your colleagues.

One point that I feel needs to be made that I haven't seen is this: If the FPO goes, the blow to musical education in South Florida will be severe. I was entering the University of Oklahoma in the Fall of 1986 when the Oklahoma Symphony Orchestra went on strike. Many of the issues were similar to the ones with the FPO: wages, how much self-determination the musicians had, venue selection (many times the OSO played in smaller towns up to two hours away from OKC). They also had the additional issue of a condutor/musical director that wouldn't vary the rep from year to year. The issues could not be settled, and the Orchestra folded. As a direct result of that, OU did not have even an adjunct tuba teacher for four years, until the orchestra re-appeared as the OKC Phil. Majoring in tuba at OU at that time was like majoring in casino management at Oral Roberts University.

The situation with the strings was equally dismal. The high school orchestra students in all of western and central Oklahoma lost most of their private lesson resources at once. Some teachers tried to stay and make a go of it, but it wasn't economically feasible. They could make plenty of money teaching privately, but without the benefits afforded by the orchestra, they didn't risk working with out a net. Besides, an orchestral musician without a gig (or actively seeking one) is sometimes kind of like a ship without a rudder. The only ones that DID stay were the ones that were lucky enough to secure full-time teaching positions at one (or more) of the numerous colleges in the western half of Oklahoma.

Maybe you can use the OKC example to point out that your orchestra doesn't just contribute to musical excellence in the South Florida area, it fosters it in their children. Not a threat, just a realistic appraisal.

Just out of curiosity, how many members of the FPO teach at U of M, FAU, FIU, or any of the other colleges around MetroDade? I'm sure they ALL teach high schoolers. It might be easier to think in terms of how many DON'T.

Steve


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