Thursday (9/13) on the KPBS blog Culture Lust, Angela Carone reports, “Orchestra Nova hasn’t hired any musicians for its upcoming season, which begins on Oct. 20th. Management is currently renegotiating contracts with the local musicians union. After five months of talks, Orchestra Nova’s leadership says they’ve reached an impasse. Representatives from the American Federation of Musicians, Local 325, say there is still a deal to be made. … Orchestra Nova wants to do away with those annual contracts and hire musicians on a concert by concert basis. Orchestra Nova artistic director and conductor Jung-Ho Pak said he wants to pick and choose musicians for each concert based on their stage persona and how it matches with the music being presented.” About the new requirements, Andrea Altona, president of the local musicians union, commented, “ ‘musicians may not be chosen for their artistry but based on how they look onstage … We as a union try to protect people from such arbitrary decisions.’ Altona and her fellow musicians are open to Pak’s ideas and have successfully implemented them in the past. But, she added, the union can’t agree to a contract that allows the orchestra to ‘fire musicians for something that has never been a part of their formal training.’ ”
Posted September 14, 2012
