In Sunday’s (4/1) Crain’s New York Business (subscription required), Miriam Kreinin Souccar writes, “When the Paul Taylor Dance Company Performed for the first time at Lincoln Center last month, one element was missing: live music. The musicians were outside protesting. … Now the musicians’ union is waiting on an arbitration hearing date for its fight against the Broadway musical Priscilla Queen of the Desert after launching a massive campaign contesting that production’s partial use of recorded music. … The story of the struggling musician is nothing new, but with smaller orchestras like the Long Island Philharmonic and the Queens Symphony scaling back, and musicals and dance productions using fewer players or none at all, professional musicians—many who studied for years at prestigious schools like Juilliard—are facing an increasingly tough time. They are being forced to piece together bits of freelance work, take on heavy teaching schedules or leave the business altogether. … Don Batchelder, the first-chair trumpet player for the New York City Opera Orchestra, just watched his work dwindle from about 116 performances a year to 16. He has supplemented his income with additional teaching and freelance performing, but is worried about maintaining his health insurance. ‘I’m in my mid-50s, and I had expected the position at City Opera would be a solid foundation to plan the rest of my working career around,’ Mr. Batchelder said. ‘I have to scramble now.’ ”
Posted April 3, 2012
