In Wednesday’s (12/1) Post and Courier (Charleston, South Carolina), Adam Parker reports, “After eight months of uncertainty, the musicians of the Charleston Symphony Orchestra have accepted the terms of a proposed new contract that reduces the size of the full-time core from 36 to 24 and shrinks the size of the operating budget from $2.3 million to $1.3 million for the first year. The announcement came Tuesday after weeks of stressful negotiations … that divided board members and musicians, according to people involved in the process. One or two of the positions eliminated were held by players who have already left the symphony. … The new contract establishes a base salary for section musicians of $14,000 a year for the first new season and includes health benefits. Principal and assistant principal players will earn slightly more. … But the ramp-up depends on, first, a resolution to the National Labor Review Board complaint filed by musicians against the symphony board, according to board President Ted Legasey. … If the complaint can be resolved by the two sides, the orchestra can proceed to organize holiday concerts in the first step toward the reconstitution of a 2010-11 season, Legasey said.”
Photo: Charleston Symphony under the direction of the late David Stahl
Posted December 2, 2010
