I never thought about it but the latest article mentions how the board of directors is commonly hefty donors, and thus have a goal to keep the symphony going.
http://detnews.com/article/20110208/OPINION03/102080359/DSO-soon-a-Detroit-export
http://detnews.com/article/20110208/OPINION03/102080359/DSO-soon-a-Detroit-export
DSO soon a Detroit export?
"Imported from Detroit" is the catchy tag line on Chrysler's resonating Super Bowl ad featuring Eminem. And it's a keeper.
You can apply that message, which implies reinvention and global competiveness, to virtually every aspect of our lives in the Motor City and throughout the state. "Imported from Detroit" defines Chrysler and its home base as unique and world-class.
That's the same message, in different words, that the Detroit Symphony Orchestra has used to market itself here and around the world: It's a "world-class" cultural institution, an orchestra that can hold its own with many of the finest orchestras in the world.
And it's housed in a glorious and historic hall on Woodward Avenue, a place where corporate dollars and patron wealth were willing to pay salaries and maintain facilities commensurate with the claim. But the musicians have been on strike since Oct. 4, when DSO management opted to cut musician pay by about 30 percent, as part of a plan to restructure costs and address a deficit.
A new offer was made last Friday. Now the musicians' strike provides graphic illustration of how the high-class/world-class sheen can burn off a in a hurry. Even the most ritualized and polite societies get raw and ugly when the participants' standard of living is on the line.
Rift remains
The DSO management has been, at times, contemptuous publicly of both the musician leadership and the "Save Our Symphony" group sticking up for them. A Jan. 12 DSO press release sneered at the musicians' "tactics for 2011," accused them of "vitriol" and "antagonizing donors."
The musicians have publicly ranted about DSO executive director Anne Parsons' salary and perks, and demanded parity of sacrifice.
It might be a future textbook chapter for all elitists, as the rarified, tuxedoed world of the DSO sank into the treacherous quicksand of labor disputes As a season ticket-holder, I've held my tickets, unwilling to seek refunds that might hurt the DSO, while sympathetic to dedicated musicians pushed to take deep pay cuts. But when a DSO telephone solicitor called seeking a donation recently, I muttered at her: "Settle before you call again."
The Detroit Symphony Orchestra management is never going to be Enron. You can't truly vilify a nonprofit institution whose board of directors members are largely hefty donors, and whose stake in the DSO's future is purely voluntary.
Time running out
Mistakes were made. Stewards lacked crystal balls and conservative projections. Real estate and interest rates collapsed. And now — as News columnist Daniel Howes reported last week — five big banks, who hold $54 million in bonds, are banging at the closed doors, asking for their money back.
(The banks are the least sympathetic figures here: What might these mostly TARP-beneficiaries do with a repossessed Max? It's not as if you can play hockey in it.) The DSO is part of Detroit's heritage, crucial to its 21st-century bid for credibility as a city that matters.
If the orchestra is going to survive, both parties need to breathe deeply and reach for agreement. They need to act now, before it's too late and "imported from Detroit" becomes the catchy slogan adopted by fine orchestras in other cities.
lberman@detnews.com
From The Detroit News: http://detnews.com/article/20110208/OPINION03/102080359/DSO-soon-a-Detroit-export?#ixzz1DSanBZTQ