Per the front page article on today’s myauditions.com, the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra is now on strike. What it does not mention is that the orchestra was LOCKED OUT of holding an audition! An article, titled “Symphony musicians reject offer” (by Sarah Bryan Miller, Post-Dispatch Classical Music Critic) appeared in the St. Louis Post Dispatch yesterday that has not been posted on myauditions, but you guys might find some of the facts very interesting:

“…There was collateral damage in the dispute: Auditions for the orchestra's new utility horn position and for a double bass opening, scheduled for Monday and today, were abruptly canceled. About 25 semifinalists for the horns and 12 for the double basses arrived at Powell Hall at 8 a.m. Monday to learn that they wouldn't be playing after all. Their travel and hotel costs would be reimbursed, Adams said. But, said Gippo, "It's not the money; it's the emotional" aspects; all had spent the holidays practicing, and the time and effort cannot be reimbursed.

In an e-mail to Adams and others involved in the auditions, Marc Gordon, president of the SLSO Musicians Council, asked that the auditions be held as planned, because of the financial burden that reimbursement would involve, the "insurmountable" problems of rescheduling the auditions and maintaining the orchestra's "impeccable reputation for
fair audition procedure."

Responded Adams, "It was a very difficult decision. But we felt that if we had musicians on strike and a work stoppage, it was probably unfair and possibly legally difficult to be paying some musicians to sit in on auditions while their fellow members were out on strike. We are sorry that the union put us in this position."

I did not attend these auditions, but I know people who did, and I’m sure some myauditions.com readers did. This is horrible! All those people practiced their butts off over the holidays, paid all that money to attend the audition (though they will be reimbursed), showed up, and then were told that the audition wouldn’t happen…

Julia Rose
Associate Principal/3rd horn
Columbus Symphony Orchestra

uggh! I am going to be sick about this one. are there any SLSO musicians in these forums that can post their input?

It would be nice if some of the people who auditioned could post their experiences here as well for all to share.

Julia, do you have any of your friends who could possibly post their grievances here so we can at the very least, provide some emotional support to them. I know if I showed up for these auditions, which I didn't, only to find out they were cancelled, I would be an emotional basket case for a week.

Julia is right on, I just published an article which goes into more detail about the canceled auditions: http://www.artsjournal.com/adaptistration/archives20050101.shtml#93998

Yes, the SLSO management has stated that they are going to reimburse the audition candidates for their travel and hotel (as of now there is no cap being placed on that figure.)

But what isn't reimbursed is the audition candidates lost time, effort, and expense they've put into preparing for the audition. Many of them have jobs in other orchestras and have had to take unpaid leave to attend the SLSO audition.

go read the above article if you have the time, it goes into significantly more detail regarding the audition issues and clarifying the difference between "strike" and "lock out".

Drew

Well, you need to throw "work stoppage" into the mix since the top story on myauditions home page linking to the news story references that specifically. no where is it mentioned strike or lockout but as i see it, it is merely semantics and posturing for both parties to once again (like so many other orchestras before), to wage a PR battle and attempt to place blame on each other for the "stoppage."

I think if you look at the New York Times there will be even more answers. I found the link on Artsjournal.com. This is not a work stoppage, and most certainly is not a PR battle. Might want to check out Drew's blog also on Artsjounal. It goes into even more detail than the Post-Dispatch or the Times.

I have to agree with Random, I don't think it's just a PR inspired war of words either. There is a very distinct difference between a "strike" and a "lock out". A work stoppage is something entirely different too and has to relate to cessation of work during an active contract.

From a legal standpoint it's a very important distinction, I wrote about the precise reasons in my article today and gave an example using the Baltimore Symphony Lockout in the early 1980's.

All of these terms have carry such legal weight that numerous judicial bodies have very detailed definitions and supporting examples of each to help determine culpability, qualification for benefits, etc.

I think most people use the term "strike" (including reporters) because it has a vivid image in reader's minds and is easily used without having to provide supporting explanations.

But in a forum such as this, among musicians, to consider the terminology as simply semantics undermines everyone's position - manager, musician, and patron alike.

Drew
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Well, as Julia had guess, the NYT just posted a story today on the affect of musicians attending the auditions.

Labor Dispute Frustrates Orchestra Hopefuls

Hello, I would like to know if update on the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra strike? Do most see a long-term problem or that can be quickly fixed in next few weeks?

Here's everything I've written about it so far: http://www.artsjournal.com/adaptistration/archives/topicarchives#S

There's also a forum at the SLToday site (local newspaper) that has a long discussion board that is looking at the lockout from a number of points of view: http://forums.stltoday.com/viewforum.php?f=19

I wouldn't even hazard a guess at this point as to how long it will last, it's still very early in the process.

Drew

Good forum at SLToday. Haven't joined their discussions but it's nice that Sarah (moderator) who I imagine works for the paper, is bringing the musicians issues to the forefront.

I played some chamber music with a member of the SLSO over the weekend, and they said it's sounding like this is going to get very, very nasty. The cancellation of the already paid health insurance for the month of January really took the gloves off, and as Drew has written in his excellent (a must-read, actually) blog, this was a poor move on the part of management.

It seems like management was just itching for an excuse to lock out the players, or force an impasse. So far as I know, they have not talked to each other for some time now.

so, what will the SLSO musicians do with their time off? if it becomes a prolonged break and they don't receive income, does the AFM subsidize them? can they claim unemployment benefits? do many of teaching jobs with local schools and universities or will they end flipping burgers at the local burger joint?

I am a little concerned about the upcoming Flute auditions.. these are scheduled to take place in just a few weeks...
Last year they did not find a "suitable Candidate" for the gig, hence the new auditions... But most of the players I know are not even going to bother because of the current political situation. So if they do hold the auditions, and the turnout is expectedly lower, and they choose not to hire anyone again, this hardly seems like a good idea to be holding the auditions at this time.
I am still torn on whether to attend the auditions or not, which would involve taking a week off from my current orchestra, and a whole lotta cash, which would be a waste if they cancel or don't hire anyone.

Just curious what anyone else thinks of this..
Perhaps it should be some kind of union rule that there should be no auditions schedule whilst there is a strike?

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Picc*girl,

Well, I would keep calling the office and find out 1) if the auditions are still scheduled 2) If you arrive and they are canceled will they reimburse you and 3) when will you get your deposit check back

I would plan for it unless the office is telling you otherwise, you can also contact the musicians at their player's website at: partno1@charter.net

The same website also posted a note about the previous round of auditions you might find useful: http://www.stlsymphony.org/

I don't know if there could be any sort of union rule regarding what to do about auditions during strikes, each orchestra makes their own decisions about the particulars of how to conduct auditions, although they do use the guidelines outlined by the Code of Ethical...

Make certain that you keep the receipts to all of your travel expenses, especially if you've already booked plane fare, etc. If the SLSO management decides to cancel this round of auditions and agrees to reimburse you I'm sure you'll need to have all of that information handy.

I'm sorry it's such a messed up situation, the audition process is difficult enough already.

Best,
Drew

p.s. Thanks to Charles for the note about my SLSO article, I now have all of them in the Adaptistration archives for easy reference: http://www.artsjournal.com/adaptistration/archives/topicarchives#S

quote:

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so, what will the SLSO musicians do with their time off? if it becomes a prolonged break and they don't receive income, does the AFM subsidize them? can they claim unemployment benefits? do many of teaching jobs with local schools and universities or will they end flipping burgers at the local burger joint? Eek

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Well, there is an AFM strike fund, but I think the pay is perhaps a bit more than you'd get for doing jury duty (state, not federal!). You cannot claim unemployment if you are involved in a work action - though I think that if it is determined to be a lock out you might be able to collect, but I'm not sure about that. Many probably have some other sources of income (spouses, teaching jobs, private students), but this will become a severe hardship depending upon how much money each member has put away for such an emergency.

The unemployment question is a good one and it does depend on whether or not the work stoppage is due to a strike or a lockout.

If it goes long enough, the Missouri unemployment insurance board will rule on the matter (just like the similar Maryland body did during Baltimore's lockout in the 80's).

I wrote a piece about that a few weeks ago: http://www.artsjournal.com/adaptistration/archives20050101.shtml#93998

Stories of what some musicians do during prolonged strikes aren't pretty...that's all I have to say about it now.

Best,
Drew

A quick follow up, I published an article which examines the recently canceled SLSO cello auditions: http://www.artsjournal.com/adaptistration/archives20050101.shtml#95401

Drew

Drew, this is good stuff. Beats me why this isn't on the front page of Myauditions.com. It is such a timely piece for those considering auditioning in this day and age.

umm, Random, it is on the frontpage of myauditions under featured stories for today.

When I checked this morning it wasn't there, but I'm glad to see it is now. I think it's a worthy topic to be explored at MyAuditions.