In Tuesday’s (8/24) Herald (Scotland), Phil Miller reports, “Scottish Opera plans to halve the working hours and salaries of its acclaimed orchestra in a radical scheme to save money, The Herald can reveal. Managers at the national company, whose orchestra performs Puccini’s La Fanciulla del West at the Edinburgh International Festival tonight, want to employ the currently 54-strong full-time orchestra on a part-time basis, paying the musicians for 26 weeks’ work a year. … The management of the opera company, led by general director Alex Reedijk, believe the expense of a full-time orchestra cannot be sustained. They say that, for the financial health of the company, which has not been immune to crisis in the past, changes have to be made. It is understood management believe that saving money on salaries will allow more operas to be staged. It is also thought the proposed 26 weeks’ work is seen as a minimum that could be increased. … Terms have been offered to the orchestra which mean that, from next year, they would work for only around half the year. Their pay would be reduced in proportion to that.”
Posted August 24, 2010
